Advent Sunnydale
by Dreamcatchersfic
Summary: Buffy/FFVII:AC X-over: The brothers are spared their lives only to end up in Sunnydale. Xander experiences a new freedom after meeting Yazoo, but things spiral downward as Buffy's worry builds, Geostigma spreads and Kadaj's restraint unravels. Xndr/Yazoo
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: This crossover is set in the middle of Season 3 of Buffy, and the ending of Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children. Special thanks to toxictattoo for all his wonderful help. Crit, as always, is welcome.

Disclaimer: FFVII:AC is the property of Square Enix. BtVS belongs to Joss Whedon.

Series Summary: In their last moments on Gaia, the brothers are spared their lives only to end up in Sunnydale, bringing a host of problems with them. Xander experiences a new freedom after meeting Yazoo but Buffy grows uneasy as what little of Kadaj's restraint unravels, Geostigma spreads, and the tension reaches its snapping point.

Chapter summary: It starts with a simple graveyard meeting.

---

Candles dotted the floor, creating a crisp circle in a darkened room. A light breeze skipped through the curtains and sent candlelight flickering over the walls, revealing glimpses of school pennants, a bed ruffle, a laptop on the dresser.

Willow's chant grew louder as she sat in the middle with legs crossed and eyes closed.

"...I call on the power of the circle of Gaia. Come to my aid."

The wind picked up, rushing around the outer edges of the room. Stray pieces of homework spun and danced in its wake. Willow stretched out her arms in supplication. "Gaia, my goddess, I call on you-"

The wind reached critical speed, streaming Willow's hair behind her as her hands reached towards the far wall in an unseeing grasp.

Her body went rigid. Her eyes rolled back.

The candles puffed out and the wind cut off, leaving only stark silence as she collapsed on the floor.

A scrap of paper floated down softly next to her prone body. As it settled, words scratched their way across the surface.

"As you wish"

----

Buffy made her way through the graveyard with only the far-away glow of the streetlights to guide her. She was used to the dark; she lived her life in gloomy alleys and dusty mausoleums, hunting the dark forces of the underworld in a never-ending fight between good and evil. She was singing YMCA under her breath.

She dropped her arms mid-vowel. The sound was slight but her Slayer senses demanded caution. Her nightly strolls had become routine over the last week, staking freshly-turned vamps with a bored plunge of her wrist before moving on. This felt different.

She ducked behind a gravestone keeping her cream pants and peasant top clean with practiced ease. There was more than one figure out there but she had no clue who... or what. If she strained, she could catch the slightest rustling of fabric brushing against leaves. She savored the burst of adrenaline that kicked into gear at the unknown threat.

A lone cricket chirped nearby as her fingers tightened around her stake. She slowed her breathing to open up to the surroundings and plan her next move.

The crack of a twig was her only warning. She whirled in place, her hand smacking flat against the boot aimed at her head. She rocked from the force of the blow. The boy looked like a regular teen but her senses screamed 'demon'. He was too quiet. Too strong. Too fast.

A heave sent him onto his back, and the quietness of the graveyard betrayed only the slightest grunt when he hit the ground. He didn't stay down long. He relaxed into the fall and somersaulted backwards, bouncing to his feet with a speed unusual even for the beasties of Sunnydale.

Predator faced prey, though it was hard to tell which was which.

He was dressed for a rock concert, right down to the black combat boots she'd already met up close and personal. Freakishly bright green eyes, ones that belonged in a battle-scarred lion, not this wiry kid, shone bright behind the veil of hair that covered his face. Buffy's inner fashion maven cringed. Silver hair? Sooo five years ago.

She broke the stand-off with a one-two punch. "Metallica called. They want their costume back."

He dodged each blow - once left, once right – as effortlessly as if she'd been moving in slow motion, then quickly switched to the offensive. She stretched her physical abilities to dodge the blows he was returning her way. Mentally, she flipped through her ever-growing catalogue of baddies she'd encountered in her career.

Not a vamp, or he would have changed by now. Definitely not a ghost by the force of his blows. No dropping body parts, thank goodness, so her night remained blissfully zombie-free.

When in doubt, slice and dice, that was her motto. That, and always buy on sale. Still, it wouldn't hurt to get a better handle on things before she went all Texas Chain Saw Massacre on his ass. She threw out a volley.

"What's the matter? Cranky because your girlfriend used the last of the black nail polish?"

The boy frowned briefly at his clear fingernails but didn't answer, instead jumping to the top of a tombstone to flip gracefully - and gravity-defyingly - over her head. She whirled to keep him in front of her. Definitely not human. She tried to think of any human-like demons that didn't talk but in her experience they always chatted up a storm, what with all the 'grr arghhs' and 'I'm going to kill you's.

She aimed a swing kick at his head. "Cat got your tongue?"

He ducked the kick and finally answered with a smile. "You're good." He followed it up with a flurry of punches that pushed her back against a mausoleum.

"He talks." She leaned back against the building and kicked both legs out at his chest. "Now he dies."

She whipped a stake from her waistband and advanced with determination. Enough small talk. It was time to see just how much damage a stake could do, vampire or not, before his friends showed up.

She was looking for her opening when a voice interrupted.

"Kadaj, why do you fight this-" Buffy caught the disdainful pause by the new arrival as he scrutinized her, "this little girl."

She whirled towards the newcomer, taking in his height and silver hair in a glance. It was like a bad dye-job convention had moved into town. While the one named Kadaj exuded cockiness and the playfulness of a cat toying with its dinner, this one smelled of grease and oil and loud engines that thrummed with power.

"Be nice, Loz." Kadaj's body turned off like the flick of a switch, his whole pose becoming languid. "She's fun."

"I'm not fun!" She bristled then paused. "Well, my friends think I'm fun." Another pause, with a hopeful addition. "Some say wacky even." She shook her head, getting back to the meat of the matter. "But I'm definitely not little."

She thrust her chin up at Loz. "Just because I'm not some tall, freakishly over-muscled, latex-suit, silver-buckle wearing..." She lost track of where she was going but rallied quickly. "Doesn't mean I still can't kick your ass from here to the Sunnydale sign."

Loz brushed at his suit, hurt. "It's leather, not latex."

Kadaj ignored him. "Sunnydale?"

That stopped Buffy and she craned her head between the two. "Um, yeah. Sunnydale? The Hellmouth? Great big center of mystical convergence?" She made loopy gestures with her hands. She didn't say 'duh' but it radiated from every still-outraged pore in her body.

She caught their blank looks and propped her hands on her hips. "Wait. You don't even know where you are?"

Kadaj shrugged, an economical lift of one shoulder. "Not our choice to be here."

The sheer nonchalance of the statement floored her. The situation was starting to reek of a Sunnydale "oops", and Sunnydale oopses were famed far and wide for being anything but simple or logical. And if it couldn't be solved by violence and strong language, then that meant Giles and books and - she shuddered slightly - research. She forestalled the inevitable conclusion for as long as possible.

"Where exactly did you come from?"

The brothers caught each other's eyes in silent conversation. It was Kadaj that answered.

"Gaia."

"Is that by Los Angeles?"

Another round of blank looks answered the question for her.

"Okay, let's skip the written and go right to the end. Why did you attack me?"

"Like I said. You looked fun."

"That's it? No cries of 'I'm going to kill you, Slayer' or 'Your blood shall be mine'?" Her voice went up almost hopeful at the end.

"What's a Slayer?" Loz interrupted.

There went that idea.

She tapped her finger against her chin, at a loss as to how to proceed.

Before she could come up with a plan, a third man strolled up and settled back against a gravestone, ankles and arms crossed. He looked like he was ready for a photo shoot, only lacking the Ferrari to sprawl out on. And more silver hair. She was sensing a theme. She tucked her hand up to subtly tug at her own fight-tousled hair and made a note to ask what shampoo he used.

"No sign of our bikes. Nothing I recognized." He was picking up the thread of a conversation obviously started long before she arrived. "Our phones don't work either. Who's the girl?"

"You first," Buffy shot back.

Kadaj threw a quick head-tilt. "That's Yazoo."

Buffy bit down her laugh. She couldn't exactly take the high ground in the name game, after all. But Xander would have a ball.

"Sooo, you really don't know where you are or why you're here?" Getting no response other than those eerie stares, she sighed. "Chatty bunch. And you don't really want to kill me?"

Loz stood up straighter. "I can if you want me to."

She rolled her eyes and let it slide without answer. "I think we need to see my Watcher."

Kadaj looked out from under his bangs. "Watcher?"

"Yeah, my Watcher. He, um, watches." She bit on her lip. "I do the slaying," she pantomimed with her stake, "and he, well... usually he sits back with a stuffy accent reading books and cleaning his glass-"

She broke off with a sigh at Kadaj's furrowed brow. "He's like my gang leader."

Kadaj smiled slowly. "Let's meet this leader of yours."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Xander snagged a Christmas cookie off Giles' coffee table before throwing himself in the armchair with a bounce. He addressed the cookie with relish. "And now, poor Rudolph, with your nose so bright and sugary, prepare to meet your doom." He was mid-bite when he spied Giles exiting the kitchen. He shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth with a "ha, too late now" grin.

Giles' stood in his Kiss the Cook apron with an oven mitt on one hand and a spatula in the other and sighed. "Xander, you do know I made those specifically for Buffy to give to her mother."

"R'I knwo..." he finished swallowing the cookie with a gulp and tried again. "I know, but I'm a growing boy."

"You're almost 18." Giles took in the crumb-spittle on Xander's shirt. "I think you've grown enough."

Xander had the grace to look properly chagrined. "Speaking of the Buffster," he said as he checked his watch, taking extra pains to hide the Tweety Bird face, "shouldn't she be back from patrolling by now? She knows how much I hate sitting around here with all these books of yours." He gave a mock shudder at one of the bookcases. "It's like they're watching me."

He ducked left and right, never taking his eyes off the bookcase, to prove his point.

Giles set the cookie sheet down on the table and sprinkled colored sugar with vigor. "She's well aware of your bibliophobia."

"No I'm not. " Xander bolted upright. "Who said that? Was Larry talking again?"

"It means distrust of books, Xander. And I'm not even gonna ask about this Larry person."

Xander settled back down in the chair. "I knew that." He picked at the arm of the chair for a bit before the urge to fill in the silence became too much. "Willow should be here by now too." He shook his head with a tragic tut-tut. " Scoobies, so hard to find reliable ones these days."

"Willow. Ah yes. Are you two patching things up after the, um, what-have-you," Giles spun his spatula in the air at the vague mysteries of teenage libidos and romantic dramas.

"The Cordy thing. You can say it."

"Yes, the, um, Cordy thing, as you so eloquently put it."

"Right. Leave it to me to drive away the only woman who ever loved me who _wasn't_ a mummy or under a love spell." Xander slapped his knees. "But hey, I'm a free man now. No woman to hold me back. No clingy dame to tie me down. Pssshh. Love. Who needs it, am I right?"

He realized he had zipped right past the area of protesting too much and was barreling straight into crazy old guy on the park bench territory and he not so deftly changed the subject. "So, about Buffy..."

"What?" Giles blinked at the sudden segue but took the hint with grace. "Right, Buffy. She should be here by now. I hope she didn't encounter any trouble."

"Nah. What kind of trouble could she find in Sunnyda-"

They locked gazes across the room and came to the same unspoken conclusion. And if Buffy was in trouble, they were going to back her up.

They were halfway across the room when the door slammed open, bouncing back from the wall with a vengeance. To their relief, Buffy stomped inside. She was followed by a gang of silver-haired men. They gazed curiously around the room. Xander stared back. They filled the room, making Giles' normal sized dining room seemingly shrink in size by just by their presence alone. They carried with them a world of gas and leather so far removed from the English decor that they overpowered the room.

Xander thumbed his watch off and slipped it nonchalantly into his pocket.

"Um, Buff, who are these..." he searched for a word and ended lamely with, "guys?"

Big guys. Strong guys. They were the type of guys he'd normally only talk to when they were stuffing him into a locker and, even then, the conversation was restricted to 'Hey, let me out.' But then, these guys had weapons that most seniors in high school would only see in horror movies and fantasy books.

The largest one wandered into the small kitchen to paw through the cupboards, leaving an impressive pile of cracker boxes and tea packets on the counter in a short amount of time.

"Hey now." Giles' scooted behind him, grabbing up his precious goods and holding them precariously in his arms. He looked over with a helpless look. "Buffy?"

"Loz, leave the canned goods alone. Giles, Loz. Loz, Giles."

"Um, yes, so... very nice to meet you..." Giles trailed off, adding "I think" under his breath.

The middle one with the long hair was currently standing far too close to Xander for his comfort. Xander reached out his hand to push lightly against the wall of leather for a little breathing room. "Yeah, um, hi. Personal space." He made a little hand-wave around his body. "Here."

Buffy sat in a chair and grabbed a cookie with the relief of someone who knew their part was done.

"Xander, Yazoo. Yazoo, Xander". Another cookie followed the first.

"Yazoo?"

"Is that a problem?" Yazoo stepped right back into the small area of personal space that Xander had just reclaimed.

"No." Xander tried it again without the squeak. "Um, no. No problem. Nice name." He tacked on a quick hand-wave and took another step back.

Loz tromped back into the main room after having scouted all the side rooms. He nodded at the youngest of the trio, still standing in the door. "It's clear, Kadaj."

Kadaj entered the room like a king entering his castle, with leather straps making a bold X across his chest and coat tails tied into chaps, a look that Xander could only pull off in the more optimistic of his daydreams.

"Buffy, what the hell is going on? Why are these," he shot a quick glance at Yazoo, "nice men here to visit us?"

Yazoo gave him a satisfied smile in response and leaned in close, his voice for no one but Xander to hear. "We're hear to check out the sights." He raked his eyes down Xander's body. "And they're pretty good so far."

Xander eeped.

Having had his fun, Yazoo turned away and clomped heavily across the room to sort through the cookies on the table. Xander took a tentative breath, testing the waters to see if any movement, no matter how slight, would draw Yazoo back into his orbit. One breath, Yazoo was still digging through the cookies. Two breaths, Yazoo was staring in consternation at the Christmas-tree shaped confection in his hand. Three breaths, and he tossed the cookie back in the pile to join his brothers in the living room.

Great googly moogly, that had been close. Close to what, exactly, Xander didn't want to examine.

"-you even paying attention to me, Xander?" Buffy's voice finally cut through his thoughts and he jerked back to the present.

"Yes, attention. That is what I'm paying." He sidled past the end of the couch to sit on the arm of Buffy's chair. "So what were you saying again?"

She sighed and started over for his benefit. "Giles and I were just discussing how these... men... ended up here. They're not vampires. They're not even from this dimension, apparently. And no one knows why they're here. So, no vampires means no vampire slayage which means no Slayer. It looks like they might be with us for awhile." She sent a pointed stare around the room that said that, while they may not be vampires, she was still watching them. Kadaj sneered, Yazoo ignored her, and Loz ate a cookie.

Xander digested the bite-size synopsis and knew what that meant. Research. He bit back a groan and tried not to think nasty thoughts about the new interlopers. It wasn't their fault they ended up here during his Christmas vacation.

The phone rang during the standoff and Giles poked his head in the room. "Buffy, that was your mother. Something about a grocery errand for a dinner with Faith?"

Buffy jumped to her feet. "Shoot. The dinner. I promised Mom I'd be there."

She flicked her gaze between Giles and the three men.

Giles went to her side and spoke low. "It's fine, Buffy. I'm not without some knowledge and if they were going to do anything, I'm quite sure they would have done so by now." He scrunched his forehead as he looked over at the couch. "Instead of eating all the heads off the reindeer cookies. Hey now—"

Buffy watched him head over to rescue his treats and gave a resigned sigh. "Okay. I'll go to this dinner. But if anything happens," her voice dipped low and stern, "call me."

The click of the door behind her reverberated through the suddenly quiet room.

Xander realized he was now sitting in the living room with three of the scariest men he'd met since Angel, and Giles was... Giles was rearranging his kitchen?

"Giles. Priorities?"

"What? Oh yes, yes, of course. I'll just... Well, I'll just leave this for later then, shall I?"

Giles reluctantly let the last of his recovered stash spill from his arms back on to the counter, all the while glaring at the offender - who was cleaning his fingernails with a knife, one leg sprawled under the coffee table, the other stretched out on the couch.

"And I'll request that you remove your boots from my couch, please."

Xander flinched but Loz simply dropped his foot to the ground and kept on cleaning his fingernails.

Kadaj smiled at his flinch and bared his teeth.

"Willow!" Xander jumped up with the rush of a man who had just found a way to escape the executioner. "I should go find Willow."

But age trumped craftiness and Giles quickly popped his bubble. "Yes, Willow. Good point. Xander, you stay here with these men and I'll go see if she's encountered any trouble." He grabbed his satchel and was muttering under his breath. "It is rather late to call, don't wish to be rude, perhaps I'll just knock on her door instead. Grand idea, yes." He cast one last glance into the living room before he left. "And you four just, um, enjoy the cookies then." He made his escape.

Xander sank back into the chair and looked around, unsure which sight was scariest: Loz still working industriously with the knife, Kadaj smiling at his every flinch, or Yazoo eyeing him from behind lowered lids in a way that was doing decidedly funny things to his stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Special thanks to lj user="toxictattoo". Briefly references the FFVII Ultimania Omega for the origin of the brothers: ie. created from the Lifestream as physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will.

---

"I'm bored," Kadaj stated.

Xander's head shot up. "Bored, what? Not boring. Fun!"

Dealing with someone who was slightly crazy was bad enough. But _bored _and slightly crazy? Who knew what ideas he might come up with. Xander tapped his finger on his forehead. Think, Xander, think.

He held up his finger in the air in triumph. "Charades."

Loz snorted, and Kadaj blinked. Xander didn't dare look to see what Yazoo was doing. He bit on his lip and held his finger up a little less triumphantly. "Yahtzee?"

Kadaj rose to his feet displaying a body that was hard and angled and solid muscle, a view only magnified by the close quarters.

Xander sucked in his stomach automatically.

"Let's spar." Kadaj sidestepped around the coffee table without breaking eye contact. Xander panicked.

"Um, small space," Xander improvised. "Knick-knacks. Bad idea." He hunched his shoulders. "Because of the knick-knacks, of course." He glanced up to see if Kadaj was still approaching and saw the welcome sight of Yazoo…

He backtracked that sentence and ran it through his mind again. It came out the same: The very welcome sight of Yazoo slipping between him and Kadaj.

"Brother, leave him be." Yazoo gave him a dismissive look before turning back to Kadaj. "He's not even a challenge."

"Hey." Xander's head popped back up. Then he quickly had to agree. "Well, yeah."

It was apparent that Kadaj would only take that sort of interruption from his brothers and, even then, reluctantly. A quick round of those inscrutable looks between the brothers had Kadaj giving a half-shrug and sitting back down, with a blank face that could be hiding anything from slight annoyance to restrained rage.

Yazoo touched Xander's shoulder. "Why don't you show me some of your town?" He flicked his gaze knowingly towards Kadaj then back. "Unless you'd rather stay here..."

"No, not at all. I mean, I'd love to show you around. Yes, please," he ended hopefully.

Yazoo smiled - a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes - and gestured to the door.

---

After the two left, Kadaj paced his way around the house pulling books out of the bookcase and dropping them on the floor one by one. The Tome of Necromancy hit the floor with a thud. The Full and Complete Chronicles of Raznar the Unjust followed.

"What the hell is this?" Kadaj had flipped open a book that showed the rather graphic mating practices of the Krognac and the book flew across the room to collide with the wall, cracking the spine.

Loz lounged back on the sofa and followed the flight of the book with a lazy roll of his head. "Kadaj. What are we doing here?"

"Fuck if I know."

"Are they serious? _Vampires_?"

Kadaj held up a heavy book with an engraved cover proclaiming "Vampyres" in answer. He ripped it in half and tossed the pieces to the side without comment.

Kadaj's frustration was catching, the mood - as always - transmitted so easily between them. Loz fidgeted in response. "Shouldn't have let him go."

"Yazoo's fine," was the curt response.

Loz snorted. "Just because that dark-haired one seems like a goofball doesn't mean it's not an act. What if it's a trap?"

"He's weak."

"The little blonde looked weak too."

Kadaj grasped the one thing he was sure of in this fucked-up land. "But she smelled like us. She had power." He trailed his fingers along the wall as he walked, stopping at a small floral picture to dig out his knife and slice a line down the center as he spoke. The edges flopped out satisfactorily and he nodded. "But that one, he smelled like fear."

Loz grunted in reluctant agreement. He pushed himself off the couch to scrounge uselessly through the fridge for anything alcoholic. "Still not sure why you let Yazoo go with him," he called out from the depths of the refrigerator.

"He'll find things out for us. Find a way home."

Because that's what Yazoo was good at. Let him use that brain of his to get them the hell out of here.

Loz had given up his search and was now leaning against the wall in a heavy slump. His voice held a guarded tinge of hope, as if reassuring himself that it hadn't all been just a dream. "Kadaj. It was the Reunion, wasn't it? At the end?"

Just the word brought all the power thrumming back into Kadaj's body. He'd become as close to a god as that annoying little Planet had ever seen. Well, Sephiroth had - but he'd been allowed to remain, a quiet passenger in the back of Sephiroth's mind for the culmination of their dreams. It had been enough. He could still feel Masamune in his hand, could feel the grace of Sephiroth's walk as he strutted on the building rooftop, remembered swinging the six foot blade as if it were an extension of his own hand.

"It happened."

And it would happen again. They just had to get back.

Kadaj turned and punched the wall. The plaster cracked apart easily under his hand and he withdrew his fist, frowning slightly at his fingers as he flexed them.

He wouldn't fail Mother twice.

---

They made it a block before Yazoo felt Xander relax next to him. Another block before Xander finally said something. Yazoo would lay odds it was a record.

"Um, thanks. For the help with your brother."

"He's a good guy." Yazoo ignored Xander's cough as they strolled shoulder to shoulder. "He just needs to stay busy."

"May I just suggest a Rubix Cube? Hours of fun."

Yazoo simply tilted his head, not sure what that meant and not really caring. Xander had apparently refound his equilibrium - and his voice - so he was busy filling in the silence with a rambling tour of the town. Some people may have found his inability to walk quietly annoying. Yazoo thought it over and found he didn't mind. Besides, it saved him the bother of asking questions. Xander was like an open book; he just had to read it.

"...And Willow and I almost got eaten by a vampire over by that wall when I put ice cream on her nose. Oh, and over there was where me, Will, and Oz took on a newly turned vamp. He was a gymnast so he got away." Xander rubbed at his shoulder. "But we almost had him."

Yazoo finally spoke up. "So there are lots of these vampires around?"

"This place is Vamp-A-Palooza for the undead with hot and cold-running blood. So yeah, there's enough."

"And that tiny blonde one is the one who kills them?"

"She's the Chosen One, yep. And she can pack a hell of a punch so I wouldn't be flinging words like tiny around her if I was you."

Yazoo smiled. "My brother told me." He cocked his head, and offered his thoughts with an almost cruel honesty. "You don't belong."

Xander visibly jerked. "What? Because I'm Mr. No Skills Guy? Hey, I play my part." He looked more like he was trying to convince himself than Yazoo. "I killed my first vamp over two years ago."

Jesse. And damn if that still didn't hurt.

Yazoo saw the scars of a wound dug deep and he skimmed around it. "So you follow the girl," he mused aloud instead. He mulled that around in his head, not sure if the information would help them or not, but any knowledge was power to help them navigate - and survive - in this unknown land.

Xander tucked his hands in his pockets, looking a bit defiant. "We don't follow her. We're her gang. Her peeps. Her buds." He dropped the slang and stated plainly, "We're friends."

The idea of placing that much trust in anyone but his brothers felt foreign and discomfiting. People were too lax, too eager to open up to others. It was a logical failing, one that would obviously only invite problems in the future and Yazoo couldn't comprehend why people kept doing it.

He was spared from any more confusing thoughts when he spied a playground off to the right. It was a small child's refuge surrounded by more of the insufferable trees that apparently dotted the whole planet. The paint flaked off the wooden merry-go-round and the metal slide listed slightly to one side. His attention was caught, however, by the swings. He wandered towards them, any thoughts of Xander forgotten like last week's toy.

He trailed his hand down the chain of the swing. "I've seen these on Gaia."

Xander, following in his wake, plopped down in the neighboring swing. "Seen?" He pushed himself lazily with a foot. "I assume you mean 'played on', right? Because it would be rather sad if you actually meant--" He dropped his head. "Oh."

The squeak of the swing was the only sound in the park.

Yazoo frowned. "I don't remember my childhood. I don't think I had—" He let it trail off into the night, not bothering to explain.

"Oh man. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Don't apologize. You had nothing to do with it." Yazoo abruptly changed tactics, never one to pass up a handy situation when presented. "Besides, I can try it now. Thank you for showing me." He stepped behind Xander to push against his back, sending the swing in a small arc. He let his hands touch just a little longer and harder than needed.

Xander grinned back over his shoulder. "And everyone said I needed to grow up. Good thing I didn't, huh?"

"Yes, good thing." Yazoo used the excuse of another push to slide his hands a little further down Xander's back.

"When you say you can't remember... I mean, I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

Yazoo let gravity drag the swing to a stop while he circled in front.

He threaded his arms around both chains and leaned in close enough to smell the scent of Xander's shampoo. Xander immediately went stock-still. Yazoo paused, matching the stillness, before finally responding. "You talk too much," was all he said. Then he pushed Xander backward off the swing to hit the ground in a dusty poof.

Leaving him to flop on the ground muttering about inter-dimensionary etiquette and the lack thereof, Yazoo strolled back towards the sidewalk.

He sifted through his thoughts as he walked. There was a disturbing difference in the atmosphere he couldn't ignore if he tried. The lack of the Lifestream made the earth feel dead under his boots and the air less responsive. His flips reached only half their height and his reaction time was slowed. It was like an engine running oxygen-rich, slowing his performance to less than optimal.

And, of course, the trees. He sneered out of habit.

They were stuck here in this claustrophic-inducing place and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. He wanted to shout his frustration at the skies. Bury himself in the simplicity of violence. Loose his hounds on the whole damn planet.

But you can't fight time and space. Short of taking his violence out on the nearest living flesh – Xander, who was currently scurrying to catch back up - there wasn't much he could do. They needed Xander and his friends to get home….which placed him directly off-limits. Yazoo lengthened his stride.

The Reunion.

He'd felt Kadaj's change into Sephiroth from across the distance as easily as if he'd been standing right next to him – a pang of mourning at losing Kadaj that had almost dropped him to his knees, followed by a blinding flash in his head at Sephiroth's emergence.

Up until then, the Reunion had been foggy to him. There'd been no need for a simple puppet to know more. But in that moment of Sephiroth's emergence, the knowledge had rocked him like a physical force. Avenge Mother. Destroy the Planet. And ride the skies until they found their new home, their Promised Land. Sephiroth's conviction had blazed through his mind and sent his thoughts reeling with the sheer scope of his ambition. He'd been overtaken with a devotion to Mother that had made their own seem paltry in comparison and had driven him to his knees.

In that moment, they'd done it. The Reunion. So close to realizing it all…before Cloud had snatched it all away. Yazoo felt the instant knee-jerk reaction to having their glory ripped away from them.

But underneath it was something deeper.

Cloud's defeat of Sephiroth had allowed Kadaj to come back, brought his brother back to his side. And the weird magic that brought them here had mended his wounds and made him whole. It was a freakish second chance he'd never see again.

For the first time, Yazoo felt a twinge of doubt at the only goal he'd over known in his short life.

He snapped out of it to find himself at an intersection, so he stood looking in both directions until Xander reached his side.

"Now what?"

"Twinkies," Xander answered emphatically.

Yazoo looked out from under his bangs with a questioning look.

Xander veered right, setting off on a path he seemed to know well. "I'll show you."

He followed. What choice did he have? He didn't have time for "what ifs" and "maybes". It was time to get back to the only mission he'd ever known. Even if it ended in his brother's death once again.

---

Loz buried his knife into the coffee table with a thunk. "I hate waiting. Yazoo needs to get his ass back here."

Kadaj snorted in agreement, punctuated by the ripping sound of another book.

The boredom was broken when a redhead shuffled her way into the house in a flurry of books and pens, her hat sliding down over her eyes. "I'm so sorry I'm late--" She stopped mid-sentence and pushed her hat up to take in Loz and Kadaj.

"Um..." She looked back at the door as if to verify she had the right place. "Are you friends of Giles?" she finally asked hesitantly.

Loz flashed a wolfish grin as he pushed himself off the couch. "We sure are. He was just entertaining us." _Close enough to the truth._ He towered over her and she took a few steps back towards the door in response. The small retreat made Loz grin wider.

He searched his memory quickly. "Are you Willow?"

She relaxed at the mention of her name. "Yes! Yes, I am." Her relief was evident. "So Giles told you about me?"

"He sure did. He just went to look for you." Loz leaned an arm against the door.

Willow's eyes grew wide at his proximity. "Oh. Good then. That's good." Her eyes snaked to the left towards Loz's bicep. He tightened the muscles, making them larger, in reflex to her stare. Her eyes grew wider. "Um, I should... I see there's... Oh look, someone else!" Slipping to the right, she pointed to the living room - and Kadaj - and made her escape.

She stopped behind the couch, switching her weight from foot to foot. "So you're another friend then?"

Kadaj looked up briefly then ignored her. Willow blinked, at a loss what to think about these intruders into Giles' usually restful sanctuary. Then she spied a more worrisome thought. "The Chronicles!" She scooped up the book and tried to put the broken binding back together. "Giles is gonna flip," she fretted. Her movements slowed as she took in the trail of demolished books scattered across the floor.

The front door opened with a clatter bringing Giles' voice with it. "Willow, are you here?"

She shoved the books behind the footstool in a guilty reflex before popping out to the dining room to to meet Giles. "I'm here," she squeaked.

"Thank goodness. I was worried when I couldn't find you at your place." Giles took in Willow's flush and the way her eyes bounced back and forth frantically between the brothers, and he held his forehead in his hand. "And it looks like you've met our latest project."


	4. Chapter 4

After leaving the convenience store, Xander and Yazoo headed back to the condo. The night was cool, the atmosphere quiet, and the light breeze was pleasant enough to blow away any worries - at least for the moment. They both defaulted to a stroll in unspoken unison. Yazoo was eyeing an unwrapped Twinkie in his hand with obvious distrust and had yet to take a bite.

Xander was also eyeing the pastry with longing, and he was slowly mustering the courage to ask a leather-clad, gun-toting, testosterone-laden man from another dimension: 'Are you gonna eat that?' But his potential career as a Twinkie thief was interrupted when a vampire jumped out from the bushes with typical over-dramatics. It was dressed for a walk-on role in Miami Vice, the collar turned up crisply on its white half-sleeved jacket.

Xander whipped out his cross with an equally dramatic, "Heeyah!"

Yazoo furrowed his brow as he watched the standoff.

"Hisss," went the vamp with the slicked back hair.

"Back off, freak," went Xander.

"You wanna piece of me?"

"You wanna piece of this cross?"

"A little guy like you?" The vampire gave him a look-over that wasn't very flattering. "I can't tell if those are muscles or goosebumps."

"Oh yeah? Oh _yeah_?…" Xander paused a beat. "Well, your collar's flopped over."

The vampire guiltily adjusted his collar before resuming his fang-laden scowl, hands back out like claws.

Xander hastily threw his cross back up to ward off a half-hearted feint.

Yazoo's brow furrowed further.

Finally dropping out of his menacing pose, the vampire sighed in exasperation and addressed Xander in a normal voice. "Dude, can we just get with the fighting and the eating already? I'm hungry." He rubbed his stomach. "Got the munchies." His fangs glinted in glow of the streetlight.

"There will be no eating!" Xander yipped.

"Aw come on. I'm in a hurry and we both know how this is gonna end, so just drop the stake give in like a good little sandwich." He winked before dusting his jacket in self-appreciation. "The girls don't like it when I'm late."

"Girls?--" Xander recovered quickly. "No! I said no eating and I meant it."

The vampire huffed in annoyance.

Yazoo swapped his weight from one leg to the other, finally growing bored with the show. "_This _is a vampire?" Clearly underwhelmed, his tone showed it.

"Tell Mad Max, the Road Warrior, it's none of his business," shot back the vamp.

Xander ignored the snipe and replied over his shoulder. "Yep, it's another one of our friendly neighborhood fiends, spreading death and destruction wherever it goes." Xander brandished the cross closer.

The vampire hissed.

Xander tried to hiss back, making a passable attempt.

Yazoo rolled his eyes.

He tossed the Twinkie over his shoulder, slipped Velvet Nightmare from its holster, and let fly with two bullets to the torso, blazing streaks of blue fire in its wake. The gun was re-holstered before Xander could blurt out, "Bzuh?" He cleared his throat and tried again. "What kind of gun was that?!" He shook his head. "Wait. Doesn't matter. Guns are no good against vampires. Stake to the heart, beheadings, those are of the good. Guns? Not so much."

The vampire had been thrown to the ground by the force of the shots but was now dutifully making its way back to his feet to punctuate Xander's words. "Hey, that was harsh, dude." He adjusted his white coat with bruised dignity. Meanwhile, Xander was digging in his backpack muttering under his breath, "Where's that stupid stake?"

A slow smile spread over Yazoo's face.

The speed in which he moved blew Xander away. One minute he was behind him, the next he had flipped through the air to land crouched in front of the vamp, his hand flat against the sidewalk. He straightened with an uppercut that rocked the vampire off-balance, followed by a crisp spin-kick that sent his victim on a short flight ending in a bone-rattling collision with a nearby garage.

The fight ended all too quickly with the vampire plastered against the garage wall, its feet hanging down uselessly due to Yazoo's hand clasped around its throat. The vampire blew out a strangled, "Lame," as it wiggled in vain.

Xander eyed the scene appreciatively. "Woah, you're like a male Buffy. A Buffo, if ya will."

Yazoo studied the vamp with a slight frown. "Stake? "

"Yeah," Xander finally tugged the small stake from his backpack and handed it over, making sure to stay out of hissing distance. "Just make sure to get it through the heart."

Xander started to cry out when Yazoo let the vampire go, but promptly cut off mid-yelp when it only made three long strides before the stake pierced its heart from behind, exploding into a satisfying spray of dust.

"Woah... and the newcomer gets definite points for style."

Yazoo grinned with satisfaction. "I think I like your town."

Xander smiled back. "I think we like having you."

And he was only slightly surprised when he realized he meant it.

---

The rest of the walk back was subdued. As they drew close to the condo, Yazoo took the stairs leading up to the door slowly. Reality awaited him inside, questions without answers and an uncertain future. His steps slowed, weighed down by his thoughts.

"Sorry you didn't get a chance to try your Twinkie. I'll get you another one."

Yazoo looked up at Xander's apology, then wrinkled his nose. "It's fine." He paused and added, "Really."

Xander stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "Hey, I understand not wanting to go back in there. Life can be pretty much of the suck at times, and I know of what I speak." The happy-go-lucky Xander face slid away - just for a second – before it dutifully returned. "And as a secret between just us guys, lemme tell you. Girls? _So _not worth the trouble."

Yazoo grinned like a present had just been dumped in his lap. "Oh, I know." A few steps brought him close enough to whisper, "Trust me, men are much better."

Xander flared bright red and bolted through the door, leaving Yazoo to trail in after.

---

There was a redheaded girl fluttering around the living room and Yazoo realized this must be the girl, Willow, they'd been talking about earlier. Kadaj was back in the chair he had commandeered earlier to the left of the couch, and he was sniffing at her like fancy sauce on his T-bone that he wasn't sure what to do with. The attention made the girl flutter more. She was keeping a careful distance from Loz, who was fidgeting uncomfortably in a high-backed chair to the right of the couch.

Her hair was as red as Reno's but Yazoo could never imagine her lounging against a wall. She was strung too tight to ever lounge.

"This is amazing." She peered in close at Kadaj and pulled back quickly at his growl. "You're really from a whole different dimension?"

Xander rounded out the introductions from the end of the couch. "Willow, this is Yazoo. Kadaj's brother."

She gave him a small wave. Moving over to sit on the couch next to Giles, she tried whispering to him non-too adeptly out of the side of her mouth. "Do you think they dye their hair?"

Yazoo raised his eyebrow and was satisfied to see her blush. "Um, but that's not important right now. I have so many questions, I'm not sure where to start." She scooped her notebook up from the coffee table and situated it on her lap. "When exactly did you arrive here? There must be some sort of correlation."

"We just showed up in that graveyard while that blond person was skulking around," Kadaj answered.

Willow's head popped up from her notebook. "Skulking? She doesn't skulk. While, except for when she's patrolling, but that's good skulking, not bad skulking, and okay, I see where you may not know the difference but there it is."

Xander interrupted. "That was only a few hours ago then. And I was eating cookies, so unless Giles has magical dimension-traveling cookies, I'm off the hook!"

"A few hours ago?" Willow started twirling her pencil with obvious agitation. "Would this be about 7-ish?"

Xander and Giles looked at her with growing suspicion and Yazoo stood straighter.

She stared at her notebook. "Well, I was doing this... thing". She waved her hand vaguely.

"Thing?" Giles prompted.

Willow shrank back into the couch. "Just a little thing?"

Giles voice took on a tinge of warning. "Willow?"

Yazoo watched as the girl tried to hold back. Anyone could see it was a losing battle. It was just a matter of waiting for the dam to break.

"Alright, I did it! I did a spell."

Giles' face grew stony. "Witchcraft. I've warned you repeatedly--" he broke off sharply in frustration.

"But it was just a little spell..." She gazed around the room at three obviously not-so-little people from another dimension. "At least, it was supposed to be little."

Kadaj grunted in frustration. Loz, however, just smiled and scooted to the edge of his chair, leaning towards her. "You do this witchcraft often then?" His smile sent the girl into nervous titters.

"Well, I dabble, I do. I do dabble." She shoved a cookie in her mouth as if to stop herself from talking.

Giles was polishing his glasses. Again. He stopped briefly when his eyes locked on a floral picture on the far wall and he put his glasses back on with a renewed frown. "Willow does occasional spells, yes, though normally she talks it over with me first." The admonishment made her take another guilty bite of her cookie. "They have been known to go wrong."

Xander pointed. "You! You did a spell." He dropped his hand and looked around the room. "Though I'm not sure how that explains the Gleesome Threesome. But you did a spell." Point. Jab.

Willow cringed. "I thought I had practiced enough for it to go right."

Loz leered. "You can practice on me any time you want."

Willow dropped her cookie.

"I just felt so bad and I didn't know what else to do to fix it, and you know me, Xander," she looked up with doe eyes that could melt a glacier, "I was trying to help, really I was..."

She dribbled to a silence under the combined stares of Xander, Giles, and Kadaj. Loz continued leering.

Xander relented. "Well, I'll admit, it could've been worse. Women aren't chasing me, and Buffy's not a rat." He stopped. "Please tell me Buffy's not a rat."

Willow shook her head adamantly. "No, I just talked to her on the phone. There was no squeakage at all, promise."

"Whew. Okay then." He couldn't help but look at Yazoo. "Well, we made some new friends so no harm done, I guess. But Will? What was the spell for?"

Red worked its way up Willow's cheeks.

"I just wanted to fix things. I didn't want to see you unhappy, and it was all so crazy what with the kissing and Cordelia and big metal spikes through people's abdomens…" she trailed off.

"Me? But I'm fin-"

"No you weren't fine. You were mopey and covering it up like a big cover-upper. And it was all - well, partially - my fault. I just wanted you to be happy again! You know, since Oz and I are... But you and Cordelia aren't..."

"Um, Will?" Xander tilted his head and asked a question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "What exactly did you wish for?"

She bit on her lip. "I just wanted to bring your true love to town."

Xander's cocked his head, as if he hadn't heard quite right.

"What?"

"I expected a new girl to transfer into school, but obviously it went all wrong and now these poor men are stuck here instead."

Xander was stuck on the only word he could think of. "What?" he repeated.

"I did everything right. I had the herbs, the candles. The room was quiet. And I was chanting, boy, you should have heard me chanting, I'm getting really good at it. You'd be so…" she caught Xander's intensity and his 'get to the point' expression, "but when I called on the goddess Gaia, she must have been in a cranky mood or something because, well," a quick wave at the brothers, "these guys."

Xander relaxed and broke out in a wide grin. "Gaia." He threw his hand up towards Giles. "Gaia."

Willow frowned.

Xander was obviously caught up in his exuberance over the explanation. "These three? Are from a place called Gaia," he pronounced happily and crossed his arms over his chest. "And, no offense, Will, but your track record isn't the greatest."

Yazoo rolled his eyes. At least they had their answer. A little girl meddling where she shouldn't. But the power that entailed. The things they could do here. It was mind-blowing.

And he could see Kadaj thinking the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: I finished up the remaining chapters on my LJ site, so now I'll be able to post them here in succession - probably one a day to give me time to edit and check formatting, 10 chapters total. (I was having troubles with scene breaks so I gave up posting here for awhile out of frustration, but it seems to be working easier now than before. Whew.) There was some slight tweaking of the previous chapters, which I'm hoping I'll get away with just because it's been so darn long since I last updated. :) So if you're like me and like reading things all in one shot, it should be all uploaded in a week or so barring something keeping me from the computer. Otherwise, here's finally Chapter 5.

---

Kadaj had come alive during the conversation, a dormant spark flared to life. Yazoo watched him from behind veiled eyes and waited for the blast. It didn't take long. The reverberations sped down the ever-present connection between the three and exploded in a full-fledged assault on his senses.

It was as if the room had been sucked free of air, and time was moving at a slower rate. He could sense if the pistons in Kadaj's motorcycle were firing wrong. When it was Kadaj himself firing wrong, he could taste it like syrup.

The rest of the Sunnydale gang was talking animatedly - Xander still a little too loud and over-aware - but it was mere static on a TV, background noise that didn't merit attention. Kadaj however... underneath that cool reserve, he was positively thrumming. A restless itch flashed across Yazoo's body. It burrowed under his skin. The normally comforting feel of leather was too tight against his body and he tugged at his clothes in distress.

Kadaj pushed off from his chair to loom over Willow on the couch. His hair hung over his eyes and his voice was tightly controlled as he paced in front of her.

"This witchcraft. You summoned us here with it?"

"Well, technically yes." Her eyebrows knitted with concern. "But it was a mistake, I swear."

"Could you summon another?"

When Willow didn't immediately answer, Kadaj leaned in close and repeated the question. "Could you. Summon. Another?"

Yazoo's heartbeat pounded in his head, echoing into the distance and coming back louder than before. Mother's wish. Sephiroth's ambition. The Promised Land.

Willow was burrowing into the couch cushions to put as much space between her and Kadaj as possible.

"No! I mean, no," she repeated in a softer, confused voice. "It's more subtle than that." Her gaze darted to Loz. "At least it was supposed to be. It's like, when you see a butterfly and blow a puff of air at them." She made a little puff with her cheeks. "They're nudged in a different direction. Subtle." Her voice was winding up again. "What I did was like sending a tornado at a mosquito. And, oh god, I think I'm hyperventilating."

Xander dumped the cookies out of a Christmas gift bag festooned with cavorting Santas for Willow to breathe into.

Kadaj stood up straight. And smiled.

Yazoo knew his brother was a beautiful person, but that was not a beautiful smile.

A body pulled in too many directions; towards Kadaj's obsession, towards Mother's call, towards Loz's unwavering belief in all of the above, until he could no longer find himself among the wild energy. Colors bright as materia screamed in his head.

He reached out a hand towards the couch that was rapidly growing further away. He went down to his knees in a pile as the world turned black.

---

He woke in a strange bed blinking at a strange ceiling. Loz dropped his boots to the ground having obviously passed the time in a far-too-small chair with his feet propped on the bed. It looked uncomfortable.

Loz scraped the chair up by the pillow and glared in consternation. "You face-planted."

"How long was I out?"

"About 10 minutes too long. You," Loz poked him in the chest, not to be deterred, "face-planted." Stern eyes raked him from head to toe.

"I'm fine." Yazoo knocked away his hand and pulled himself to a sitting position.

One more poke at his chest and Loz was gonna do a face-plant on the floor himself, even if Yazoo had to whip him over his shoulder to get him there. He hauled himself to the edge of the bed to place his feet on the floor and tested his reflexes. His hands clenched into fists when asked. He whipped Velvet Nightmare out and aimed for a knick-knack of a jaunty demon in a santa hat sitting high on a bookshelf. The sight lined up perfect. Flipping his gun back into its holster, he stood up cautiously. His head was clear.

He glared back at Loz. "It's just this place. It's messing with me." He headed for the hallway, not bothering to look back to see if Loz followed. Kadaj met him in the doorway.

A quick glance seemed enough to satisfy Kadaj as to Yazoo's well-being. He didn't hover like Loz, and Yazoo was grateful for small favors.

"You feel it, don't you?" Kadaj got straight to the point. "This is our new place." His eyes gleamed with a wild fever though his voice stayed low and steady.

Once again, Kadaj's drive infected him. The full force was more tolerable the second time but still insidious and it spread through his body at lightning speed.

"If we bring her here, we can do it again. The Reunion." There was a haze around Kadaj that shouldn't have occurred in an area devoid of the Lifestream. But then, this place had a magic of its own. Blinding flashes of another face superimposed themselves over Kadaj's - solemn lips and cruel eyes framed by a curtain of hair. The flashes swam over Yazoo's vision, whether real or an illusion brought on by Kadaj's intensity, it didn't matter. The story the flashes told meant more.

The other two had never bothered to worry about their existence, focusing only on the driving need that burned in their gut. But Yazoo, in the dark nights on the Planet, he'd fretted at it like a sore tooth. The three of them, bound together so close, didn't just act as one. They were one: Sephiroth's will, brought into being by a determination honed by time and a relentless need for revenge that could bend the very Lifestream itself. Three parts of a whole - cruelty, strength, and allure - their one mission in life to find Mother, the catalyst for the Reunion.

But it was Kadaj who was the chrysalis. He was the one to transform.

"We can use this planet. Wipe the vermin from the whole damn place." The pupils in Kadaj's eyes contracted to a cat's eye. "We'll give it to Mother to travel the skies, to find the Promised Land." He was caught up in his telling, utterly sincere and righteous in his belief. He raised his hands out to the sides, fingers spread wide, grasping at the very air itself. "It can still happen. For Mother."

Yazoo nodded. When Kadaj said it, he believed they could do anything.

But did he want to? The time on Gaia had been a hedonistic, self-indulgent mind-fuck of epic proportions, in pursuit of one goal, all else be damned. But it wouldn't be the same this time. He knew what the Reunion was now.

Reunion was losing Kadaj.

"I'm going out. I'll be back." Yazoo's terse words were more than enough to warn his brothers off, in case the shorthand body language they used wasn't already enough.

He was going to go kill things.

---

The tombstone broke in half as the full weight of Yazoo's body cracked against it. He tumbled backwards and kipped to his feet. No thinking, just action.

It was hard enough to turn off his brain in the best of times and it had been running non-stop since he got here. Sex and violence were his distractions of choice, and since sex was on hold – at least until he got past Xander's defenses - violence was the winner.

He pulled the makeshift stake from his leathers. He'd made his own version from a picket fence. It had felt good to tear the fence down, and all the domesticity and tameness it stood for. The wood had shattered comfortingly under his kick so he'd kept on going until the full length lay in pieces around him.

But the newness of vamp kills was wearing off quick. They had strength, but they fought with a single-minded emptiness that wasn't _enough_. He took out his current target with an economical stab, ending the play.

He needed more. And he missed his bike.

That was the first thing to take care of. Long strides took him out of the cemetery and down the street. The first car he encountered was a puke green and bore only a faint resemblance to anything he'd driven on Gaia, but it would do. A quick kick broke in the side window and a quicker hotwiring had him cruising down the road. He kept his eyes peeled. He'd know it when he saw it. His speed was reckless but others on the road were smart enough to get out of his way.

When it happened, he slammed the brakes hard, skewing the car to the right. The car ended on the sidewalk where he happily left it. He stood in front of a whole string of motorcycles. They were pale imitations of his bike back home – or what he considered home; however short a time they'd been there, it was the only home he'd known - but they'd do.

A biker was coming out of the bar bouncing his keys in his hand. Perfect. Keys meant he could bypass hotwiring which would save on the paint job. And the bike he walked over to was pitch black with lots of chrome. Even better.

He wandered in front of the owner and blinked at him. "Give me your keys."

"You got to be shittin' me." The man let fly with a perfect zinger of chewing tobacco and eyed him back with a disbelieving laugh. "You're serious, aren't ya'? "

The man was a combination of bluster and muscle turned soft, with the swagger of a born asshole. He was also too stupid to know danger when it looked him in the face. Yazoo almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Give them or die." He wanted the man to take the first punch. It wouldn't be as fun if he didn't.

The biker hiked up his shirt sleeves. "I think it's time you went home to mommy so she can brush your hair."

"More useless talk." Yazoo sighed. The guy wasn't playing the game and it was sapping the fun. He moved quickly and punched straight to the throat with one hand and snagged the keys out of meaty fingers with the other. The man folded to his knees.

He flipped his hand up in the air, experimenting with the still-unfamiliar feel of the planet, to call out his hounds to finish the rest. They emerged into solidity, their presence comforting in their familiarity. Hairless black limbs carried the hounds forward, their jaws snapping in anticipation. Yazoo slung a leg over the bike while the hounds tore into the man. The dash was different from his bike, more so than the car had been, but he could work out the basics easily enough.

The cries of the man were starting to annoy him so he kick-started the bike to drown out the sound.

A tap on his shoulder caused him to twist the key and turn the bike off. He looked over and jerked in surprise at what he saw. Raising his hand without looking in the direction of the hounds, he recalled them with a simple twist of his wrist. He could hear staggering footsteps as the biker made his escape but no longer cared. The... thing in front of him had all his attention.

It waved.

"Hi. I'm Marvin".

Yazoo carefully got off the bike and backed up a few steps. "You're purple."

"Purplish," Marvin agreed. "I consider it more of a puce, a common misunderstanding. Nice hounds, by the way."

"Thanks." Yazoo wasn't sure why he responded. Sheer surprise that it talked, he supposed. While there were a lot of unusual beasts on Gaia, they didn't usually walk up and start chatting with him.

Yazoo did a quick double-check. Short, with a smooshed face like one of the more exotic cats that had wandered around Edge… and purple. Puce. Whatever. Definitely not something he'd expect to start talking.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Marvin nodded, a gesture that seemed more out of habit than any agreement. "You should come down to Willies bar some time. Looks like you'd fit right in."

"You...live here?"

He'd meant on the planet but Marvin misunderstood. "Well, underneath the nursing home, actually. Neat place. I can hear the TV nice and loud." He leaned forward to share. "That Matlock, he's a pretty sneaky guy."

Yazoo had no idea who Matlock was. "And I'd fit in at this bar?"

"Yep, yep. Me and the boys, we have a coffee club on Thursdays. Your hounds would be a big hit." He beamed.

"The boys." He knew he was just repeating things but he couldn't seem to stop.

"Young man, there's more of us here than you think." His wise gaze showed he understood more than Yazoo felt he should, and that this may have not been his first time as the demon Welcome Wagon. He broke back into a cheery grin. "So stop by, stop by. It's Melvin's turn to buy this week."

Marvin reached up to give him a friendly pat on the arm and shuffled off towards a nearby manhole, mumbling under his breath about no-good old coots with stingy pockets. He called back from the manhole steps. "Two blocks east of here. Maybe I'll see you some time." He dropped the cover and left Yazoo standing and blinking.

Yazoo wasn't sure what to think. He had just met someone who seemed even more out of place here than he did. It gave him a new perspective - though he wasn't exactly sure what it was yet. If there were a strange planet to be lost on, he finally decided, they could have done worse.

Meanwhile, he took stock. He had a bike, he had his hounds, and he, apparently, had a bar. He cranked the bike back up with a bemused expression, past troubles tucked away for the moment.

For the second time tonight, he was heading back to Giles but it was on firmer ground this time. Kadaj had a long way to go if he wanted to complete his plan. There was still time to figure something out. He flipped the bike up on one wheel in his exuberance at being back on the road and headed back to the condo.

---

(Author's note: See, it's okay. The mean guy got away.) :)


	6. Chapter 6

Yazoo parked his ill-gotten bike out of site of the condo and walked the remaining distance. He entered the room to find Giles waiting stone-faced by the door with car keys in hand. Scant minutes later, he and his brothers were being hustled out to a boxy little car that had seen better days. He caught mumbled snippets about ruined books, first editions, something called a pillock, and a few other words that didn't make much sense - which didn't clear things up much - but one look at Kadaj's satisfied smile gave him the gist.

Cramped in the back seat next to Loz, Yazoo craved the feel of the bike and open air.

Loz leaned towards the front seat. "This car sucks."

"It serves me just fine, thank you," came the affronted reply.

"Well it's damn crowded back here, just saying." Loz tried rearranging his knees, which were currently around chin level, to punctuate his point.

"The Mansion is only a few more miles ahead and you'll have all the space you need," Giles replied. He added in a low breath, "And you can destroy as many of Angel's books as you like."

Yazoo shot a sideways look to Loz and got a reassuring nod. He was slowly catching up. They were obviously being given new living quarters. That worked for Yazoo. They didn't fit here and he was ready to move on.

Kadaj took his attention from the window with a snort. "Angel." He turned back to address Yazoo. "We're staying with a vampire." He drawled out the word with disdain and more than a hint of disbelief. "But he's a good vampire." The disbelief ratcheted up a notch and Kadaj simply shook his head before turning back to stare out the window.

"These people are nuts," was Loz's non-too-soft whisper as he elbowed Yazoo in the side.

"I killed one earlier. They're real."

Even Giles looked up at the pronouncement. Yazoo didn't offer any more of the tale. He'd fill his brothers in later. But to live with one of those... things. He gave up trying to understand this freakshow of a planet and went along with the offer. If it turned out bad, they could kill the vamp, steal some money, and get their own place. It would probably destroy their shaky alliance, and they'd lose easy access to the redhead, but Yazoo only had the barest control over things as it was. They needed to find their equilibrium, and soon.

Upon hearing Yazoo's confirmation of the existence of vampires, Kadaj grilled Giles for more information. Yazoo sat back and let his brother take over. They found the vampire kept to himself, slept during the days, and didn't socialize much. Yazoo exchanged nods with Kadaj in silent understanding. They could probably let it live, for a while at least.

The mansion echoed with space after the cramped atmosphere of Giles' condo. It was luxury like they'd never seen. Monstrous ceilings stretched far above them and their boots clunked on marble floors. Pillars were scattered around the main room, an area made even larger by the relative lack of furniture: a couch and two side chairs around a rectangular coffee table. It barely made a dent in the space. There were no pictures, no knick-knacks, no splashes of color. If he hadn't been told someone was living here, he'd have figured it abandoned.

They were quickly situated into three of the many bedrooms upstairs with the caution that Angel lived in the basement and not to intrude. They took one look at the three doors and settled, as one, into the room closest to the stairs. They'd been sent across time and space to a whole new world. The last thing they needed was more space between them. They were each other's home now.

---

The next morning, Xander fidgeted behind Buffy as she strode up to the mansion.

Mentally prepared, thy name wasn't Xander. He was on red alert for 'babble mode' and meltdown was imminent. Buffy had shown up at his door far too early in the morning to propose the trip and, somehow, he'd ended up agreeing. He was still off-kilter from meeting the brothers the night before - or, more specifically, meeting Yazoo - and now they were heading straight into the lion's den. Babble mode ahoy. He was wearing his loudest plaid shirt to hide in but wishing he'd gone for the orange.

He knew he could have begged off when she'd knocked on his door, but his dad had hollered about the racket and his mother had hissed at him to be quiet and the dishes were still dirty and the ashtray was over-flowing and he had grasped at any excuse to leave the house. Which put him right back into Yazoo's orbit.

He took a deep breath. He could do this. He shuffled the bags in his arms. He'd felt magnanimous when he was buying his own breakfast and he was currently carrying enough food to feed an army. Food transcended any of his own unease. Everyone needed to eat.

Buffy pushed her way in through the large mansion door and started yelling. "Hey. New guys. Wakey, wakey."

"And the Xan-man brings food," Xander added.

Kadaj was the first to appear at the top of the stairs, with sleep-filled eyes and looking younger and more innocent than he had any right to.

Buffy wasn't phased. "Bring the rest. We need to talk."

Kadaj smirked and crossed his arms, any hint of innocence fading away. "Oooh? Little girl wants to talk. Then you can come up here."

Xander scouted for cover.

Yazoo and Loz chose that time to come down the hallway, finishing off buckles and adjusting leather, and tromped down the stairs past Kadaj heedless of the standoff. "Food," Loz said. "About time." Xander was immediately set upon by a wall of leather and silver. The food was scooped from his arms and laid out quickly on the large coffee table. Loz, in particular, was scouring the contents with enthusiasm.

Buffy and Kadaj continued to stand at opposite ends of the staircase, eyes locked.

Xander craned his head back and forth between the staircase and the coffee table and went with the easier choice. He crowded around the coffee table. "Yeah, there's bread, peanut butter, ham… do you have pigs on your world? Anyway," he reached into the bag and pulled out the big finale, "plastic forks."

He waved the fork in the air with explanation. "Your, uh, roomie doesn't eat much, so no silverware."

"Blood," Yazoo said.

"Gross," Loz offered.

Xander had to agree.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There's donuts. Buffy? Donut?" Xander held out the box with an unspoken plea in his eye.

Yazoo snagged one and made a show of taking a bite. "They're good, Kadaj. You should try one."

The world held in delicate balance for one second, then another. Xander looked at Yazoo. Yazoo nodded back with a subtle 'It's fine' look.

Kadaj unlocked his body and started down the steps. Buffy uncrossed her arms and wandered over to the table to grab a donut. Xander started breathing again.

The mansion settled into silence as the crew made short work of the donuts, with tentative forays into the peanut butter by Loz.

"Okay, enough." Buffy stood up, dusting her hands. "Everyone's eaten, now it's time for business. You guys are here. We're the ones who brought you here. So I feel like we have to help you. But…" the emphasis in her words brooked no disagreement, "I will not tolerate the harming of innocents, the sucking of human blood, magical amulets, love spells, hyenas, robots, mummies from any era, or being friendly with bleached blond vampires who've recently lost their crazy girlfriends. Got it?" She swept the room for confirmation. "Oh, and no harming of kittens in any manner. Or werewolves," she added as an afterthought.

The brothers looked too confused to answer so Xander interrupted. "It, um, can get a little crazy around here," he offered in an explanation that explained nothing. "Although, you guys are probably at the top of the crazy list now so I guess you'll have to watch out for yourselves." He giggled half-heartedly before trailing off at blank looks. "That was actually funnier in my head."

Loz grunted then gave Xander a grin. "Not bad." His slap on the back almost sent Xander into the coffee table.

Everyone stopped when Angel ducked his head into the room. He didn't even need to say anything and he had everyone's attention. Xander wasn't jealous. Really.

"I heard the noise," he finally offered.

Buffy nodded in answer. "Meet your new neighbors."

Kadaj straightened and drilled his gaze at Angel. The intensity in the room went up ten-fold. Xander shuffled his feet. Scenes from Wild Kingdom flashed through his head and he desperately wished for a helicopter to escape the fray. In a world of Jim Fowlers and Marlin Perkins, he would definitely choose to be Marlin saying, "We'll wait here while Jim captures the six-foot anaconda".

Even Yazoo showed a rare spark of interest at Angel's arrival. Xander briefly let himself hope that Yazoo might have found a new target. He didn't bother to examine the slight twinge of loss in his chest that provoked.

"This is your vampire then?" Kadaj asked Buffy from behind veiled eyes.

"He's not my vamp—" She dragged her hand through her hair. "It's…complicated. He's my friend. Think of him as being here to help you." She stared meaningfully at Kadaj. "For example, he'll help you into a pulp on the ground if you break any of the rules above. This is my town. And I don't allow chaos in my town."

Kadaj simply smiled and Xander shrank back. Kadaj's smile had that affect on him.

She held eye contact for a second longer before breaking it and turning to Angel. She put a light hand on his arm, then pulled it away as if burned.

"Um, keep an eye on them, okay? I … I have to go."

Xander was on his feet and by her side in an instant, with only a quick look back at the scene – the brothers by the sofa, Angel leaning against the wall – following as she made her escape.

---

Kadaj pushed off the sofa to stand in front of Angel, who didn't move a muscle from his lounge against the wall. Loz was behind his brother in a heartbeat. Yazoo stood off to the side to watch what the vampire would do. If Buffy smelled like pure power, this one smelled like barely restrained rage. It was buried deep, almost impossible to see behind the strict wall he put up… unless you were the same. And then it screamed in vivid 3-D and neon colors.

Kadaj smiled. "My brother says he killed one of you."

"I'm not one of them."

"Touchy." Kadaj's smile grew bigger. "I hear different. You drink blood."

Angel's face grew stony.

"Denying your roots?"

Yazoo looked out from half-lidded eyes, alert to every facial expression. If the man did drink blood, it wasn't from living humans, that was obvious. Tamed. The word popped into his head in a flash. But if that was it, it was a superficial taming. The man had a wildness in him that rivaled Yazoo's own.

"You heard Buffy. Keep yourself clean while you're here." He whirled to head downstairs, ending the conversation. He stopped in the doorway to look back over his shoulder. "Stay out of my area and I'll stay out of yours."

He disappeared soundlessly down the stairs.

Yazoo narrowed his eyes. Angel was sharp and that worried him. He could cause them problems if they weren't careful and it was Yazoo's job to take care of those problems. He vowed to keep an extra-sharp eye on their housemate. He hoped the uneasy feeling in his stomach was just from the too-sweet donut.

---

The next few days passed by in a delicate sense of equilibrium. The brothers didn't want Angel invading their space any more than Angel wanted them in his. It was a shaky truce but it was keeping Kadaj calm as he worked on his plan, so it was the best Yazoo could hope for.

Kadaj sat at the desk with a red marker held in his mouth, tracing his finger over the blueprints in front of him. The map of the town's watermains was a rare find that he'd had been scouring relentlessly since Yazoo had brought it home. Getting the map had involved killing the night watchman at the nearest municipal plant - a risky endeavor since they were trying to stay on the good side of the witch - but no suspicion had been aroused yet. Yazoo was developing a fondness for the apathy of the town.

The water tower at the corner of Oak and Maple was circled in red.

"Going again tonight, Kadaj?" Yazoo asked.

Kadaj hummed distractedly. "Yeah, I'll just scope it out for now." He folded up the map and placed it almost reverentially back in the drawer. His muscles popped as he stretched his arms. "It looks like it feeds a lot of houses."

Loz rolled over on the bed and thumped his stomach. "I'm not exactly sure how you're doing it but it's spreading, huh?"

Kadaj smiled. "It's spreading."

Yazoo felt his window of time quickly disappearing.

---

It was a few days later and Xander was most definitely not stalking the brothers as they moved through the cemetery. It wasn't stalking; it was… professional curiosity. When they'd first heard reports through the demon grapevine of someone else staking vamps, it hadn't taken long to track the silver hair in the description back to the brothers. Upon a quick conference, it had been suggested by Giles to let them continue. An outlet, he called it. Trespassing was what Buffy called it. Giles had won the mini-standoff. The brothers were allowed to hunt vamps.

And Xander was currently walking through a dark cemetery at night following them. He had to be insane.

"You can come out now," Yazoo called.

Xander flinched.

Kadaj leaned on his brother's shoulder and peered directly into his hiding place. "We could hear you bumbling around a mile away." He looked mildly amused. "But I'll hand it to you. You've got some guts to follow us."

The expression didn't encourage Xander to give up his hiding place but he knew when he was cornered. He walked out with his hands up, like a hostage in a bad cop flick.

"I was just taking the shortcut hom—"

Yazoo flipped a stake at him. "Help, if you're here. Or leave. Your call." Kadaj watched him with bright eyes while Loz tapped his foot impatiently.

"Whatever, let's go," Loz huffed.

Xander caught the stake before it hit the ground, though it took two or three bounces before he finally held it firmly.

"Um—"

Yazoo cut him off. "Get over here before you get eaten already."

Xander got.

That night hunting with the brothers was the start of a whole new world for Xander. The brothers didn't bother to protect him but, by the same token, they weren't spending all their time protecting him. It felt... oddly freeing. Conflicting emotions were running rampant but one was slowly rising to the top: _So this is what power feels like_.


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy plopped into the woooden library chair with an audible groan. "Giles, are you going to let them kill my vamps like that?"

Giles tried to catch up with the conversation. "Um, excuse me?"

"They're killing my vamps!" She pushed out of the chair in frustration and paced the room. "_My_ vamps," she repeated with a bit of a pout.

"Now, Buffy, you should be glad of the help."

"Right. First Kendra, then Faith, now these guys. We'll have to start handing out numbers. I can wear a t-shirt: 'You, too, can be a Slayer. Ask me how'."

Giles dumped a pile of books on the table. "They seem to be doing no harm. So long as things continue as they are, everything should be fine." He hid his emotion in a hasty lens-cleaning. "Besides, it will keep you safer."

Buffy's shoulders sank and she relented. "I know. Between you and Mom, I get it. I do." She caught Giles' eyes. "But I can still complain, can't I?"

"Well, I suppose so, yes."

"Goodie." She clapped her hands together. "Because it's been kind of boring lately. Nothing's going on."

"You may want to revise that assessment." Giles pulled out a newspaper and snapped it open to the middle.

Buffy peered over his shoulder. "The gossip column? Giles, I never pegged you for a social climber."

"I endeavor to use all areas in my research. Now look closely." He pointed at a picture. "See that dark smudge there. And there."

Buffy squinted at the black and white photo. "Looks like she did a horrible job with her eye make-up."

"That's not eye make-up. It's, well, I'm not sure what it is." He pulled out a stack of pictures from the pile and fanned them out on the table. "But it's also here and here and here."

The number of people with the weird smudges on their body was accumulating into a rather scary pile.

Buffy grew serious. "And you think this is supernatural?"

"I stopped by the hospital earlier and they've had numerous cases. They are at a complete loss. The victims are complaining of a tightening in their chest, shortness of breath, and aching limbs. It's all just so vague." His hand clenched uncharacteristically into a fist before relaxing. "They're sending them home with makeup and aspirin. Yes, I think it may well be paranormal."

"A hunch?"

"A hunch," Giles agreed. "While I'm loath to go off of such unscientific methods, it's too unusual not to, um, wig me out as you kids might say."

"I'm not sure what I can do. It's not like I can fight smudges. Unless I pass out makeup compacts, and I _so_ don't qualify as a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." She glanced down at her chest. "In a couple ways, actually."

"Just… I don't know..." Giles gathered the pictures back up. "The hospital is trying to keep this quiet for now but we can at least keep an eye out for anything unusual."

Buffy gave a mock salute. "I'm looking-out girl." She scuffed her toe on the library floor. "If I do that, can I beat up one of the silver-haired creeps? Just one?" she pleaded.

Giles sighed. "Just go look around."

---

Xander found himself once again making the trek to the mansion. This time it was Willow who ambushed him to come along in her quest for information. He knew Willow was like a dog with a bone when she was interested in something, and she was definitely interested in the mystery of the brothers. Unfortunately, that left him in supportive best friend role and, with the dawn of a new day, he was feeling less supportive-best-friend and more oh-my-god-what-did-I-do-last-night. But, unable to fess up to his night of reckless activities, he'd given in to Willow's puppy dog eyes.

He loved his friends but he'd be crying in his beer if he were old enough to drink.

He hid himself in the corner of the couch. Other than a nod from Yazoo, the brothers ignored him. Xander sent up a thanks to the Saint of Scary Dimension Travelers Who Liked to Flirt With Impressionable Young Teenagers. And if there wasn't one, he figured they better get to saintin' - for the sake of impressionable young teenagers everywhere.

Willow placed her notebook on her knees. Her body language showed her discomfort as the initial enthusiasm subsided. Scooting closer to Xander, she gave a small finger-wave to the brothers lounging nonchalantly around the room. "Hiya."

Getting no response other than Yazoo leaning back against a pillar, she took a deep breath and jumped in. "So. I just need some additional information and then we'll see what we can do to fix this." After the second round of no answers, she sent a sidelong pleading look to Xander. He inched his way out of his corner and nodded, giving her the mental equivalent of a bracing shoulder rub.

She nodded back and straightened. "You were on a planet called Gaia. And were fighting with someone named Cloud."

Loz and Yazoo sneered simultaneously.

She frowned and pointed at Kadaj who currently had one leg slung over the arm of the chair. "Then you turned into," she flipped through her notebook, "someone called Sephiroth for a brief period."

Kadaj flinched at the name but remained stoic.

Her discomfort slipped away as she became engrossed in the story. "The idea of someone actually turning into another person. The types of magics that would entail is amazing and..." she sank into silence at their blank faces, "and that's not the point, is it?" She retreated back to her notebook.

"I've got something here about rain but I'm not sure I understand. You were dissolving?" Her eyebrow quirked with thought as she chewed on her pen. "Like sugar, but not in the sweet and yummy kind of way?"

It was clear that Kadaj only responded to end things as quickly as possible. "I heard Mother. I was going to her. Then you pulled me away." The snarl in his words sent Willow reeling back. Xander sent a frantic look to Yazoo. A light touch of his hand on Kadaj's arm seemed to be enough. Kadaj visibly restrained himself. "I ended up here." He crossed his arms and would say no more.

Xander nodded to Yazoo in appreciation.

"Ookay then." She quickly turned to the other two, with the disbelieving thought that those two were the 'nice ones'. "And you were mid-explosion, being pulled towards, um," she waved her hand vaguely upwards, "the light, and then you were here?"

Loz was the one to answer. "We should have been dead."

"So I saved you?" She perked up then caught Kadaj's mutinous expression. "Or not."

Xander interrupted. "Do you think this will help you, Will?"

"I'm not sure. The complexities are amazing and I don't think I'll find anything in Giles' books on this. On the other hand, what was happening on their end may be moot. Apparently, I pulled them here and their situation at the time may have no bearing. But any information I can get helps."

She sent a brief look towards Kadaj and gathered up her purse. "It's easier to reverse a spell. When something is wrong – like you three in a place where you aren't supposed to be - it's easiest to 'right the wrong'. The universe wants to be stable." She paused. "In short, I'm not exactly sure how I got you here, but I'm pretty sure I can get you back."

Kadaj didn't say a word, just turned and walked up the stairs. Loz offered a blush-inducing wink to Willow before following.

Yazoo paused. "Xander, can I talk to you? Alone?"

He didn't wait for an answer and strode to a side bedroom.

Xander shut the door slowly behind himself. He ducked his head to try and catch Yazoo's eye. "What's up?

"Can she do it? Send us back?"

"I... I don't know. She's getting pretty powerful."

"And we'll go back to the same spot we left?"

It finally hit Xander then. The situation the brothers would be in. He didn't... he couldn't answer.

Yazoo sat on the edge of the bed, expressionless. Xander was floundering. He had never done well at silence. And he was even worse at indirect death sentences. He searched for the right words to say, the words to make everything better, knowing it was fruitless. Finally, he tentatively joined Yazoo on the bed with the only words left to say. "I'm sorry."

Yazoo drew in close, not allowing Xander any time to think. There was nothing slow or seductive about his moves. He pushed Xander flat against the bed and kissed him with desperation and recklessness, a last ditch attempt to avoid the inevitable and focus on the now.

And Xander let him.

---

The next day at school felt surreal to Xander. Christmas break was over and the normal bustle in the hallways was in stark contrast to his night spent making out with a demon from another dimension. And no matter how many times he said that line in his head, it still made him boggle.

Willow stood on her tiptoes in front of the locker and waved to him. She looked far too sweet and far too innocent and he suddenly wanted to turn the other direction and, if not run, at least walk really, really fast. She broke into a large smile and beckoned to him. One look at her cheerful face and he tucked all his drama down into a deep little Xander-space to panic about another day.

He put on a return smile and made his way over.

She bounced. Xander knew that bounce. "Um, Will? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Well, since you asked." Willow beamed. "I think I can slow time."

"Woah." Xander blinked, moving his books from his left arm to his right as he digested the information. "As in, 'I want to sleep in for five more minutes and I can make it a really long five minutes'?"

Willow nodded enthusiastically as she closed the locker door with a clang. "I made time slow during gym class!" Her expression dropped for a second. "At least, I think I made time slow. Maybe it just felt like forever because we were doing that thing where you had to climb up the rope." She added in a confidential voice, "Gym class isn't my best subject." She perked back up. "No. I'm sure of it. Time definitely slowed."

"You're riding the crazy train, Will. Ozzy would be proud." Xander looked pleased with his reference until he spied Willow's expression. "Because of the song. Crazy Trai—" He trailed off at her blank look. "Not important. So… you're bending time to your will." He slung an arm over her shoulder. "My uncle Rory is stopping by tonight and I was wondering if you could maybe speed things up a bit."

"It doesn't work that way, Xander," she scolded. "It needs to be for something… important."

"What? Helping your bestest friend in the whole world get out of a night of drunken taxidermy stories isn't important? I'm hurt."

"You know what I mean." She bopped him on the arm then grew serious. "I'm glad, though. That I'm still your best friend, I mean. Because of the thing where I did that thing."

"Oooh. You mean that little thing that brought three men from another planet." He softened. "You meant well."

She nodded earnestly.

"And it may not have been such a bad thing," he continued haltingly. There it was; the perfect opening. Did he tell or not? It nagged at him that he wasn't sharing his life with Willow but what would he say? Hey Will, you know my record as a demon magnet? Still going strong! Oh, and this one is a guy?

He gave himself a mental nuh-uh and shook his head. Some things were better left in the closets they were found in.

Luckily, Willow was too honest herself to catch his lie of omission. "I know the men have been helping with the vampire slaying," she said as she furrowed her brow, "so I guess it wasn't the worst thing." She lowered her voice. "But they're a little scary, don't you think?"

Yes, yes, Xander did think. Unfortunately, that was part of the allure. He'd long given into the idea that he and normal relationships would only have a passing acquaintance.

"It'll be fine."

He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince.

---

The next week settled into an eerily normal routine for Xander. A little vampire staking, a little making out, followed thereafter by a little denial, a little mental breakdown, and a little avoiding of any conversation whatsoever about the brothers with Buffy and/or Willow. Rinse, lather, repeat. He made no attempt to break the cycle. In fact, that night he showed up at the mansion earlier than usual. It was almost twilight and he wanted to catch the brothers before they went to Willie's (Loz's idea) or to the Bronze (Yazoo's idea) or out vampire slaying without him (Kadaj's idea).

Kadaj tolerated his presence – but only due to some unspoken mojo that Yazoo exuded with the simple lift of his eyebrow. Xander wasn't going to complain. The nights when the brothers let him tag along were some of the best, if not the scariest. He loved Buffy like a sister – and, at times, like a perverted 17-year old looking at linoleum – but her protection could get suffocating at times. The brothers let him kill. And he thanked them for that.

He'd racked up more actual killing blows - more strikes against fang-toothed evil, more chances of redemption for Jesse's death - since he'd started tagging along with the brothers than all his time as Buffy's back-up. The weird thrill that zinged through him when a vampire turned to dust under his stake was becoming addicting.

It also meant he'd damn near died more times than he wanted to remember. The brothers weren't known for their protective natures. The atmosphere was making him reckless… more reckless than usual.

Xander was getting pulled in to the wildness and he wasn't resisting a bit.

"Xander, you want this one?" Yazoo tightened his arm around the vampire's neck and yanked its arm up higher behind its back.

Loz cracked his knuckles impatiently. "I don't care who kills it, just hurry it up." He threw a punch at the vamp but pulled it short, smiling at the wide-eyed fear on its face. Turning away, he grunted. "Come on, kid. I'm getting bored."

Xander nodded. It was becoming easier to bury the stake into the body. It still felt a bit too human at times, but one quick look at those warped facial features and pointy teeth pushed any thought of human flesh out of his mind. As he readied the stake at his shoulder, the normal plunge felt too routine. Xander rebelled. With a quick glance at Loz, he dropped the stake, balled his fist, and aimed for the vampire's face with all his strength.

"I think I broke my knuckles," he finally eeped from the ground where he was cradling his hand.

Loz laughed, while Kadaj rolled his eyes and flipped a stake into the vampire's chest to finish the job. He wandered over to offer Xander a hand up. "Humans. Pathetic," was Kadaj's assessment. His words held the slightest note of amusement. "But you don't back down."

Xander sidled closer to Yazoo. "Um, thanks?"

"Take him to the doctor, Yazoo. We'll catch up with you later."

Loz was flipping his stake with irritation at the delay. "Whatever. Let's go." He jerked his head at Kadaj to head out. Before slipping out of sight, he called back over his shoulder. "Kid. Next time, don't pull back before the punch lands. Follow it all the way through."

Xander was still cradling his hand and he jerked his head up. "Did he just..." He looked out into the gloom. "Who knew I'd get fighting tips from your brother?" He felt absurdly pleased at the fact.

Yazoo headed for his bike. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

---

They pulled up in front of the Xander's house and he slid off the back of the bike with a small moan.

"Take the medicine the doctor gave you," Yazoo commanded as hit the kill switch. The bike sputtered into silence, magnifying the sound of crickets around them in the still night air.

Xander hung around on the sidewalk, not wanting things to end just yet despite the throbbing in his hand. "Aww, you care."

"I'm just tired of hearing you groan," Yazoo shot back. He lowered his voice. "Besides, you broke skin. Who knows what infections those things have."

"Woah." Xander blinked in surprise. "You really do care."

Yazoo started the bike with an abrupt roar, cutting off any further conversation. "Just take your medicine."

Xander watched him take off, reviewing the small exchange with a tilt of his head. He broke into the grin as he headed into the house. It had been a night full of surprises and the last one was the best of all.

---

The next morning, Loz headed to the store to get supplies. Yazoo and his damn Twinkie fetish. It was okay, though, as long as he got his peanut butter. A woman bumped into him with her shopping cart. He threw up his hand to start Dual Hound – instinct - before remembering they'd agreed to leave the weapons at home until they got the help they needed.

He stood and stared at the large, undeniable blotch of black and brown that trailed down the woman's neck.

---

Yazoo eased up on the accelerator to watch a child running down the sidewalk towards waiting friends. The bike coasted to a stop as he frowned in dismay. The disfiguring mark down the left arm was inescapable.

---

Kadaj threw himself back on the bed and just felt.

His smile was pure ecstasy.

_It's started._


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: I'm not very good at author's notes, being kind of shy when it comes to these things, so I realize they've been rather sparse so far. :) This chapter takes a small turn into the 'slash' part of Yazoo slash Xander, but still stays pretty firmly in PG-13 territory. It's a small foray, in which I hope you'll forgive my indulgence, before Chapter 9 switches gears. Chapter 10 will be the longest as it wraps things up - around 6,000 words. It didn't feel right to break it into two chapters due to momentum. Thanks to all those who have left reviews; they're a wonderful pick-me-up and such fun to receive. And also, once more, thanks to toxictattoo for all his help.

---

The normal thrill of the hunt eluded Yazoo that night. Too many heavy thoughts weighed down his footsteps. With the start of Geostigma snaking its way through the populace, Kadaj's plans were in full gear; meanwhile, his counter plans hadn't even started. There was nothing he could do about the stigma - the 'calling card' for Mother's arrival - so any chance would have to come later. His hope lay firmly entwined in the witch. In the meantime, all he could do was wait.

The waiting did have its upside, in the form of a somewhat squirrely, almost-always entertaining and, at times, exasperating bundle of teenage emotion named Xander. Corny jokes and a quirky smile provided precious moments of distraction from the craziness. Unfortunately, those moments were colored by Kadaj's machinations. Yazoo wanted to forget it all - the impending doom for Sunnydale, their fate back on Gaia, everything... if only for a day.

A lean, trim vampire was performing a fancy cartwheel, round-off routine towards Loz - all flash and fancy moves. Loz simply lowered his shoulder and flipped the vamp over his back to land with an energy-laden 'oof'.

Loz waited for Yazoo's finishing stake.

And waited.

The vampire moaned and started crawling to his feet.

"Yazoo, dammit? Finish him."

Yazoo finally snapped away from his thoughts. Loz looked confused, like his right hand wasn't doing what it was supposed to and he wasn't sure how to fix it. The wrinkles on his brow grew deeper.

"I'm on it," Yazoo soothed.

The vampire fell back to the ground under the pressure of Yazoo's boot to dissolve into a pile of dust shortly after. Yazoo shook off the dust.

Loz glared at him. "I'm not sure what's up with you lately but get it together."

Frustration. They all had it. They all expressed it in different ways.

Kadaj watched it all with bright eyes that missed little.

"I'll get the next one," Yazoo offered. Even if his heart wasn't in it, it was a small act to help repair the distance.

They had found a party spot the week before, littered with blood bags stolen from the nearby hospital. Loz had turned slightly green. Kadaj had proclaimed it the perfect find. It had become a frequent hunting ground of theirs and tonight didn't disappoint. Yazoo led the way to find a stoner named Al who, most of the time, they let go free because he amused Kadaj and the brothers didn't mess with Kadaj's toys. But the atmosphere was different this time. Kadaj nodded with approval. "Take him out."

Yazoo sneaked up behind Al, who was busy holding in the smoke from a toke off his joint. The smoke escaped in a rush when Yazoo poked his head over his shoulder. "Hey, Al."

"Oh shit, Yazoo, you scared me."

Yazoo grinned, a grin more deserving of fangs than anything any vampire had ever pulled off. "You've got good instincts. You should listen to 'em."

"Aw man, can't you let me go again tonight? I wrote this poem, man. Kadaj would love it."

"I don't think he's in a poem mood tonight, Al."

"But, dude, it has an awesome name. I call it 'Ode to Mad Dog 20/20'. Sweet, huh?"

Yazoo didn't smile often but Al was goofy enough to prompt a spontaneous one. Almost a shame to kill him.

"I'll give you a head-start."

"Thanks, man, you're the best." He carefully flicked off the end of his joint and tamped it down to save for later. Yazoo tapped his foot. The vamp puttered behind a grave where he pulled out a bottle. He drained the last swig before tucking the now-empty bottle back neatly into its spot.

Then he took off like a rabbit.

Yazoo was only caught off guard for a second before following. The thrill of the chase surged back into his blood. Kadaj had been right. He needed this.

Al could put on a good turn of speed for a partied-out stoner and Yazoo had to stretch his muscles to catch up. It felt freeing to let all his thoughts fly away and concentrate only on the rhythm of his legs. They made their way across the graveyard, ducking around crypts, jumping over stones, and barreling through trees.

Yazoo almost missed it when Al headed inside one of the crypts. He followed behind to find the room empty. He scouted the room again, perplexed. Hearing a loud, "Aw man, I lost my weed," from below led Yazoo to a trap door.

He didn't bother with the ladder and jumped down into a small area that could only be considered a bedroom, hollowed out below the crypt. Yazoo stopped and gazed around, not often surprised like this. There was a bed, a nightstand, and a kerosene light hanging on a nail, as well as a stack of porno magazines that would fuel a small bonfire.

Al was digging under the bed for a bottle of Boonesfarm. "Come to papa," he cajoled to the bottle. He backed out from under the bed to bump into Yazoo's boots.

"Oh, hey. Wanna drink?"

"Al, I was just chasing you to kill you."

"Oh man. I'm sorry, Yazoo, I forgot. I was running by and remembered I had this little baby stashed away." He looked at the bottle longingly before getting back to the situation at hand. "Um, should I start running again?"

Yazoo waved his hand. "Forget it." He snagged Al's bottle and took a sip before handing it back. "This place yours?"

"Pretty cool, huh? I got it last year when Boner, resthissoul, got his head tore right off by another vamp. Another vamp, can you believe it? She had these crazy-ass fingernails." He waved his hand erratically in the air. "I guess he slapped the bottom of the wrong lady, ya know?" He gazed down at the floor in a moment of silence then raised his bottle in cheers. "It's how he would've wanted to go. Hitting on a chick."

Yazoo ignored the sad tale of Boner's demise and scouted around the room. "The place is mine now." He forestalled the pout he saw starting on Al's face. "I'm letting you live. Be thankful. Just spread the word. This place is off-limits."

Al's shoulders sagged. He took a sip off the bottle. The sag went away, and Al went merrily off with his bottle.

Yazoo prowled the room and a plan entered his mind.

---

The next night, Xander followed the brothers to the graveyard on Yazoo's insistence. To be honest, he wasn't feeling very up for it. Maybe he had finally worked through his vampire issues. Maybe he shouldn't have had the raspberry and banana shake with chocolate m&ms sprinkled liberally through it. Either way, he was ready to go home. But they'd taken the bikes to the cemetery on the edge of town and, if he went home now, he'd have to walk. Alone.

He wasn't up for that even more.

He lagged to the back of the group as Kadaj scouted ahead with intense eyes, looking for something to kill. He didn't seem picky on what it was.

Kadaj was… well, slightly insane, Xander was sure of that. And closer exposure didn't make him seem any safer. He was pretty sure the only reason Kadaj reined in his more killer instincts was that he needed Willow, which meant staying on Buffy's good side. He was simply playing it smart in Buffy's territory or risk losing any hope of cooperation.

It felt like a leash made of spider silk.

Loz did whatever Kadaj did.

Yazoo… Xander wasn't sure what to think. Yazoo was intelligent and didn't seem to do anything that wouldn't benefit himself in some way, but that didn't make him safe by any stretch of the imagination.

Xander shook his head and thought, I'm killing vampires (ignorethekissing,ignorethekissing) with muzzled pitbulls. I'm as crazy as Kadaj.

He leaned against a nearby gravestone to watch as the brothers wreaked their vengeance. Tonight's prey was a little mariachi band member who had awoken from his grave to find his muscles were no longer arthritic, his body no longer slowed by age. He was currently whooping it up in the middle of the brothers, giving as good as he got.

Loz took a nasty kick to the crotch and dropped to his knees. "I'm out," he gasped.

Kadaj laughed. "Get back up and fight like a man, Loz."

"Screw you," he shot back. "I'll be over here nursing my tender parts. You deal with the jumping bean."

The mariachi man fell back into a defensive stance and Kadaj grinned. "You're spry. I like you." The grin turned feral. "Now run."

Mariachi man ran. Kadaj chased. Loz stayed down on the ground, not looking in any hurry to move.

Yazoo relaxed back out of his fighting stance to find himself and Xander relatively alone for the first time in ages. Opportunity knocked and he opened the door wide.

"I have something to show you," Yazoo started without preamble.

Xander looked almost worried at the rare, mischevious grin that accompanied Yazoo's pronouncement. He switched his weight from one leg to another as his eyes flitted nervously around the empty graveyard.

"Is it the release of the Limited Edition Star Wars All Terrain Armored Transport Model? Because, if it is, I've, um, seen it," he trailed off.

Yazoo had no idea what that was and even less desire to see it. "No, it isn't. You'll have to come see." He deliberately loaded his words with nefarious intentions and an under-current of _more_. An obvious challenge to test Xander's reaction. He stood back to watch Xander struggle for a decision, to see if curiosity won over his trepidation. It was cute how Xander tried to resist the pull between them but Yazoo felt confident in the answer.

He could tell when Xander finally came to his decision and threw caution to the wind. He put on what Yazoo thought of as his 'nonchalant' face and strolled over. "Cool, what you got?"

Yazoo smiled.

He led Xander to the crypt and stood at the trap door. "Down there." He motioned to the ladder, working hard to keep his expression neutral when Xander's right eye started to twitch.

"What did yo—" Xander squeaked. He coughed and pitched his voice lower. "What did you find?"

Yazoo tilted his head. "You'll see."

He waited until Xander hit the bottom before joining him, and watched for his reaction.

The reaction was worth waiting for. "Woah." Xander wandered around the room running his hand over the nightstand. "It's not even dusty." He suddenly paused and looked over his shoulder. "Should we be worried? That it's not dusty, I mean. We're not trespassing in some Pyzorgian's place, are we? Because I'd hate to run into one of them coming back from the shower or something. Pyzorgians are not a pretty sight. And naked?" Xander shuddered.

"It's mine," Yazoo clarified. "It's been scrubbed down. Cleaned. New sheets." He let the last bit slip out offhandedly.

Xander giggled nervously. ""Sheets?" He suddenly took real notice of the bed and his eyes darted anywhere but.

Yazoo stood next to Xander and gazed straight ahead, giving him some mental space, if not physical. "Does it make you nervous?"

"I think I can safely say... nervous would be a statement of the under." Xander let the last bit out with a sigh.

Yazoo simply turned and pulled at Xander's hands, wrapping them pointedly around his hips, knowing words were pointless. It was Xander's move. He simply waited.

His wait was rewarded.

Xander leaned forward, darting in to kiss Yazoo hard, his answer clear in the press of his lips. Drawing back, Xander's bravado deflated slightly. "But let's take it slow, okay?"

Slow. Yazoo wanted to laugh. He'd never been slow with anything in his life. But something about the way Xander looked at him made him willing to give it a try.

"Sure."

---

Xander's mindset ping-ponged from incredibly nervous to totally turned-on - hitting the full spectrum of everything in-between during its travels - but Yazoo was as careful as he promised. Xander wasn't a complete novice to sex; his broom-closet antics (and assorted, other small spaces) with Cordelia had seen to that. But Cordelia was one thing. Yazoo was another. Nothing prepared him for the feel of such solid muscle under his hands. There were no soft, rounded curves, and every brush of their bodies brought home that fact. Xander found it was holding an appeal all its own.

It was almost surreal to hear Yazoo's voice in his ear, soothing him through the more panicky parts and encouraging him in the others. If not for that, he may have high-tailed it - sans skivvies, if need be, and who cared what the neighbor vampires thought - right on home to his own bed. But Yazoo's firm lead made everything fall into place with an almost surprising acceptance.

The world tilted, not a large tilt, just a small notch to the left, and settled in with a click.

---

Yazoo sat up carefully, disentangling himself from Xander's sleepy limbs. He held his breath as Xander rolled over, mumbling "I don't wanna go to school" before falling back asleep. He tamped down the feeling of panic in his chest. Xander had been inexperienced. He'd expected that. What he hadn't expected, despite the inexperience, was the intensity. It rattled his usual calmness and he needed to move; he needed activity to distract his thoughts.

He dressed quickly and climbed out of the crypt. He would have liked to have left a note but there was no paper; every last bit had been burned in his cleaning spree. Instead, he made his way to Willow's address and scouted through the windows. Finding the right one, he knocked on the French doors.

Her look of shock almost made him rethink his plan.

"Ya… zoo?"

He thought of Xander sleeping back in the crypt and stayed put.

"Willow. I need your help."

It was the right thing to say and he saw her soften. "Um, okay. But I can't let you in." He could see her frantically searching for an excuse. "My mother, she, um, tried to kill the last boy I had in my room. With a chain saw. And an axe." She looked pleased with her tale the way only a very bad liar could.

"It's okay. It's about Xander."

The door swung open a few inches wider in surprise. "Did you hurt him?"

Yazoo took in her expression and vowed never to get Willow mad. It was like watching a Pekinese grow fangs. "He's fine," he spoke quickly. "But I'm not. And I'm in Xander's life."

She shifted her body in agitation. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on between you," she held up her hand to forestall him, "and I don't want to know. I'm working things out with Oz now. And Xander, he took the break-up with Cordelia hard so I'm glad to see someone can put a smile back on his face. But you're a… "

"Demon?" Yazoo prompted.

"No, you're… you're a guy!" Willow finally blurted out. "Buffy's not as aware as I am, but I see those looks. And those aren't little looks; those are laden looks. Lustful, laden looks." She wound down. "Not that it's a bad thing, it's just… different, okay? It might take me awhile to get used to that."

Their planet, their customs, their weird ideas of right and wrong would always be foreign to Yazoo. And that was only part of the reason why he didn't belong here. The other was Kadaj. Yazoo was growing more and more concerned about Kadaj's restraint… or lack thereof.

"I won't hurt him."

"Well, you seem sincere. But I know nothing about you. And you wear leather." It sounded like a pronouncement of doom. "And you carry big weapons." A thought seemed to hit her hard. "What are your feelings on fish?"

"Fish are… good." Yazoo had never felt as off-kilter as he did at that moment.

Willow was still standing in the doorway but she was no longer guarding it as if barring the hounds of hell from entering her room.

"Good. Very good," she nodded. She checked him over from head to toe. "You're still a demon-type person so there's nothing we can do about that, but then Angel is a vampire and Oz is a werewolf so you get a little leeway there."

"Okay." Yazoo's eyes were wide.

"Have you heard my shovel theory?"

Yazoo needed desperately to get this conversation back on firmer footing. "I promise not to hurt him. I'm here because I don't want him to get hurt either." He paused. "We need to go back to our own planet."

Nothing had been clearer in his mind.

Willow softened like she'd just seen a homeless kitten. "I'm working on a solution. Hopefully, one that doesn't entail being," she gulped, "dead on the other end. I'm waiting on a few ancient Kryptokian texts to come from Amazon."

"I don't think we have much time."

She straightened up. "Is there something I don't know?"

Kadaj straining at the muzzle, his obsession with the Reunion here in Sunnydale, the Geostigma… yes, there was stuff she didn't know. And she'd never find out, if Yazoo could help it. This request, right now, to send them back, was already hard enough to say.

It was breaking a trust that, if found out, could tear apart him and his brothers forever. But Yazoo was sure, even if they ended up right where they left, seconds away from the end, they'd still meet in the Lifestream after. Nothing as simple as life or death would keep them apart. Staying here in Sunnydale, however, meant losing Kadaj to the transformation, and Xander to the aftermath. The decision was clear.

"Find a way to get us home. Soon. Please, Willow." He could only hope she understood the urgency.

With that, he threw himself over the balcony to land on the lawn below. He felt a sudden need to get back and guard Xander back to his house. He'd drawn him into this mess. It was up to him to keep him safe.


	9. Chapter 9

Xander wielded his Sharpie with the concentration of a warrior. His tongue slipped out of the corner of his mouth as he drew in the second eye on the side of his hand. It was gonna be the best hand puppet ever. Look out Hamlet; move over West Side Story. His concentration was interrupted when Buffy swung through the library doors.

He held up his hand to talk to her. "Why, hello there, pretty lady."

"Cute, Xander." She tossed her purse on the table. "I'm out working and you're playing with markers."

He covered his hand against his chest. "Shh, you're gonna hurt his feelings."

She rolled her eyes. "Meanwhile, back in the land of the sane."

"We've been researching," Xander soothed. "Well, um, Willow and Giles have. Any luck on your end with this smudge stuff?"

"Unfortunately, no. 'Looking out' girl has looked… and found nothing."

Willow looked up from a large tome, chewing on her bottom lip in frustration. "There's nothing in here. We've researched every book we can think of that might have relevance." She pulled out a packet of pictures and frowned over the black and brown bruises. Marks spread over a hand here, a bicep there. She settled on the picture of a small child with the left side of her face covered with the unmistakable sign of a fast-progressing illness.

Xander tore his eyes away from the picture. It wrenched at his stomach and he felt the need to lighten the atmosphere. "Well, I think it's safe to say I've read every book in this library. Unless Giles is holding out on us. Hey Giles, do you have some super secret books, say, with pictures of naughty ladies that you're keeping to yourself? You rascal."

Giles stood silent, engrossed in the open book in his hand.

"Giles?" Xander yoohoo'd with his hand.

"What? Oh yes, other books. No. No books."

They sent a round of concerned looks around the table.

"Giles? Is everything okay?" Willow asked.

He finally tore his attention from the book in his hand and snapped it shut. "I'm sorry, I'm just concerned. I've even spoken to the Council about this and there is no record of anything ever occurring like this before. Which means, it's either the work of an as-yet-uncatalogued demon or…"

"Or?…" Xander prompted.

"Or it's from a different world."

Willow jumped to her feet in concern. "The silver-haired guys." She fidgeted. "I'm not as good as cute nicknames as you guys. But you're thinking it's them, aren't you?"

Giles rubbed at his eyes before slipping his glasses back on. "It's only a theory for now. No need to get ahead of ourselves. But Willow, do keep working on the return spell, will you?"

"I think I've narrowed down the ingredients; one of them is a bit hard to find. And I'll need to test it, of course. I'll look more into the smudge too, and ee if we can get a better handle on where it's coming from."

"Just make sure not to push yourself too hard. You need your rest, too."

She nodded distractedly. "Do you think this smudge stuff will go away if those guys... if those guys go away?"

"It's very possible, yes. At least that's what we can hope for."

During their conversation, Xander pulled the picture of the young girl across the table with the tips of his fingers and tucked it into his back pocket.

---

Angel was an unknown factor. He'd been an invisible roommate so far, but Yazoo couldn't rid himself of the nagging feeling that he was dangerous. He slipped down the stairs for the first time since they'd moved in. The basement of the mansion was mostly blocked off, leaving a mid-size living area with two doors off the right-hand side and one on the end. The room was carpeted in rich white and decorations were spare to non-existent. That much, at least, fit what little he knew of the vampire.

Two of the doors were open and Yazoo scouted through the first room quickly. It had obviously served as a bedroom in its past life. There was wooden furniture left behind but there were no sheets on the bed and nothing in the drawers; it was as stark as the rest of the mansion, and provided no additional information. A quick foray into the second room showed the same. The search took less than a minute and he started turning back towards the door.

The air felt different. He stopped mid-step. "Most people say hello," he offered, not bothering to finish his turn.

He heard a rustle as his unseen visitor leaned against the wall. He could picture the pose without even seeing it, a psuedo-nonchalant lounge. He looked back over his shoulder to confirm it.

"Angel."

"What are you doing down here?" He frowned in consternation.

Yazoo finally turned to face him. Angel's shirt was partially unbuttoned, his feet bare. He'd obviously dressed in a hurry. "Let's just say… you make me curious."

"I told you to stay out of my way."

"You did."

There was definitely something singing in Angel's blood. He'd known Angel was dangerous, and this all-too-familiar feeling only confirmed it. A corresponding chill ran down his spine.

He prowled up in front of him. "I could hear something calling me. I needed to know more."

He traced his hand down the front of Angel's shirt, only to have it slapped back as Angel rose to his full height.

"I don't know what your game is but knock it off."

"Game?" Yazoo blinked, slow and lazy. "Who said it was a game?"

"I don't care what it is." He spoke the words with frustrated precision. "I just want you to leave."

Yazoo's smile grew genuine. "Make me."

Angel stared at him.

"You want me to leave, right? So let out a little of that wildness. Make me." He threw the challenge down at Angel's feet and waited to see what he'd do.

The atmosphere grew deadly quiet.

Angel pushed off from the wall. "I'll be in my room. You," he pointed, "leave." He strode angrily away.

Yazoo watched him go. He wasn't sure if he learned anything of use but it had been an interesting encounter. Angel was intriguing. He didn't seem to fit in this world any better than they did but he was keeping himself tightly under wraps. At this point, he wasn't much different from the humans he was trying so hard to emulate. It made him impossible to categorize. He could still cause them trouble, or he could safely stay tucked down in this basement forever. Yazoo thought it over and finally filed him away as a still possible dangerous element but contained, for now.

He headed back up the stairs with a thoughtful look.

He was greeted at the top of the stairs by loud banging.

"Hey, you guys home?" Xander poked his head around the edge of the door and Yazoo offered a rare smile.

"You're already halfway in. Come on." He waved and headed over to the sofa, kicking off his boots and tucking his feet underneath him.

Standing at the end of the couch, Xander fidgeted with his hand in his back pocket.

Yazoo looked up, questioning. "You're different today."

Xander took his hand out of his back pocket to cross his arms in front of him. Then dropped them uncomfortably to his sides. Then sneaked around to his back pocket again.

"Something you want to show me?"

He flinched, then finally pulled out a picture. He held it out with an unreadable expression. "Do you know what this is?"

Yazoo glanced at it, keeping his expression totally neutral. But he knew what it meant. It was the beginning of the end.

---

Tension gripped at Xander's throat. Yazoo had denied everything, of course, and with that unreadable poker face of his, Xander wasn't sure _what _was true any more. He couldn't keep everything to himself any longer. He needed his best friend. Even if that meant coming out of a very comfortable closet.

He stood meekly on the porch when Willow opened the door, his posture that of a wet and bedraggled puppy.

"Willow, I have something to tell—"

"I think I already know." She beckoned him into the house and he pulled the door shut behind him, a load lifted from his shoulders with those five little words.

---

The absence of the Lifestream had affected all of the brothers, sucking away their power and leaving a feeling of loss deep inside, but they'd been learning to adapt throughout their stay. Yazoo, however, was growing worried. It was affecting him worse than the others. It came and went, mostly manageable, but at times it swam over him like an almost physical sickness. He was doing his best to hide it, going as far as to beg off their hunting trip that night. A night of rest, a little more sleep, and things would get better. It was the most he could hope for.

Kadaj and Loz left the Mansion, weapons strapped on and visible and tension wrapped around their shoulders like an ill-fitting coat. Though Yazoo was usually the rudder to their wildly rocking ship, for tonight at least, they were on their own. It was a decision he would rue later.

---

As Yazoo turned restlessly in the bed, things were spinning out of control on the other side of town. A small gas station was becoming a scene that would later be wrapped off from the rest of the city in yellow tape and warning signs. Kadaj stood smiling over the bloodied body of a small corner shop owner gasping his last breath. The shelves had been sent flying and potato chips crunched under their feet. Loz grinned from behind him as a customer cowered in the corner - knowing there would be no reprieve.

---

Yazoo awoke to the dip of bedsprings and the smell of blood. Kadaj was sliding under the covers with a sated smile on his face, all his earlier tension gone. It was a look far too familiar. Loz was busy unstrapping Dual Hound and unbuckling his leathers. He settled into a chair to clean blood off his weapon. It was an act they hadn't needed for some time due to their vampire-only activities. Yazoo was only starting to realize the ramifications of his decision to stay home.

Kadaj hadn't bothered with undressing before pulling up the blankets. He only paused long enough to drag a tired hand down the side of Yazoo's face, his fingers still stained with blood. His contented smile filled in all the rest. As Kadaj settled in next to him, Yazoo started planning damage control.

If… no, _when _Buffy found out about the night's activities, any chance of help from the witch was gone. Their ability to return to the Lifestream - together - was gone. Yazoo's heart ached. He rolled on to his side to gather Kadaj in his arms, mindlessly stroking his hair as he ran various scenarios through his head.

Kadaj had held off for as long as he could. Yazoo had just taken too long.

---

He was woken the hard way, shocked from sleep by rough hands grabbing at his body. He barely had time to ready himself before he slammed into the wall. He didn't need to look to see who his attacker was. His oversight from the night before hit him like a freight train. The scent of blood. The damn vampire.

He hadn't realized Angel could move so quietly. He'd caught them all by surprise, which was a feat in itself. Loz was scrambling for Dual Hound as Angel narrowed his rage in on Kadaj. The situation was spiraling out of control as Yazoo's worst fears about their invisible roommate came to pass.

He snagged Velvet Nightmare from the top of the dresser and dropped to his knee to fire off three shots in quick succession. While bullets may hurt Angel, he knew they wouldn't stop him. He grunted in frustration and tossed the gun aside with a howl. He sprang for Angel's back.

It was three on one. The vampire wouldn't have had a chance back on Gaia. But this was Sunnydale and they found themselves struggling more than they liked. There was no time for Kadaj to grab his sword and he'd resorted to brutal, in-your-face moves, using his fists and kicks to hold the vampire at bay.

Angel's fury was directed solely at Kadaj, and the smell of blood was undoubtedly fueling his emotions and affecting his judgement so he didn't notice when Loz and Yazoo caught each other's eyes and nodded. Yazoo swept Angel's legs out from underneath him. He directed his fall towards Loz who was lying in wait with Dual Hound. The zap from the weapon sent Angel flying through the air until his head smacked against the wall. He slid down to the floor, curling his hand over his stomach. The shock from Loz plus the earlier damage from the bullets was taking its toll.

He still wasn't ready to give up though. "I told you not to mess with my town." He pushed himself back up onto his knees – undaunted even in the face of three-to-one odds. "How many did you kill?"

"Enough."

A harsh laugh escaped him, and he winced at the pain in his mid-section. "You just signed your death warrant."

Kadaj's eyes turned ice-cold. "Hit him again, Loz."

One last zap from Dual Hound sent Angel to the floor. Kadaj absent-mindedly wiped blood from his lip as he took in Angel's prone form. He aimed a questioning kick to his side and, receiving no response, he finally smiled.

Recovering Souba, he lined the sword up against Angel's neck.

"Keep your little warrant. I _am _death."

Yazoo raked his eyes over the man who'd finally let his animal out. It had been an impressive display, and he found he didn't want him killed. Footsteps sounded at the edge of his awareness, providing the perfect excuse.

"Leave him, brother. Someone's coming. We have to go."

Kadaj tightened his grip.

"I said, leave him," Yazoo ground out. He didn't challenge Kadaj often but, in this case, he held his ground.

Kadaj bent to Yazoo's will. "I'll leave your toy be." He sheathed Souba on his back. "I already had my fun tonight anyway."

They took the back way out of the mansion, leaving their pursuer behind.

---

Yazoo led them to a crypt tucked away in one of their more productive hunting grounds on the edge of town. Loz wandered around the interior, wrinkling his nose at the overwrought candles in ornate lead holders that littered the walls. Buncha fancy crap no one needed, what with being dead and all, but then this whole planet seemed slightly twisted. From the looks of the numerous cemeteries, tombstones, and floral shops, the town made a pretty good living off of people being dead. He shuddered and continued his circuit.

Dubious decorating aside, the place was darker than the mansion but also smaller. He nodded in approval. They hadn't needed those freaky, tall ceilings and all that empty space anyway. As long as they had each other, the surroundings could kiss his ass.

He kept a wide berth around the sarcophagus in the center of the room – taking quick steps away if he caught himself too close - but it was a small nit-pick. He gave Yazoo credit. He hadn't done half-bad coming up with this hideaway on such short notice. He seemed a bit on edge at their presence there but whatever that was about, he could get over it right now. This was perfect for their needs.

He reached for the door handle to take a quick scout outside. The door swung open to find him face-to-face with a weasley looking demon with permanently crossed eyes. It made Loz's own eyes water in response so he zapped him lightly with Dual Hound just on principle. The demon yipped and skittered back a few steps. He scratched at his bald, green head, aiming for an innocent look and not quite succeeding. "Oh, hey. This isn't Darzog's place?" He laughed nervously. "I can't believe I went to the wrong crypt. They all look alike, ya know? It's not like we were gonna crash here for a poker game or anything. Me and my horrible sense of direction. Ma always said I didn't have the sense of a drowned goldfish. So…" he finally wound down, "you're new to the neighborhood, huh?" A few kittens mewed their way out of his pockets and he shoved them back down.

Loz snarled and fired up Dual Hound again. He paused, clicked off the weapon long enough to snag a wiggling kitten from the demon's pocket, then fired it back up. A quick look at Loz's curled lip sent the demon scampering off.

Yazoo returned, eyeing the fleeing demon with a questioning glance to Loz.

"Just cleaning house," he offered.

"And the cat?"

"It, uh, just showed up."

Yazoo raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he strode past into the crypt. He must be stressed out if he didn't pounce on that opening. Loz patted distractedly at the squirming kitten. "Something's definitely up, Cerberus."

Entering back into the crypt, he spied a trap door tucked in the corner that he'd missed on his first circuit. He tugged, one-handed, at the handle to find it locked down tight. He knit his eyebrows at the shiny, new lock. Damn strange, that.

"Leave it, Loz."

He gave one last tug before letting the handle go.

"I'm not sure what's up with you and this place but it's starting to piss me off."

Yazoo dragged his hand down over his face. "Sorry." His eyes gained focus and Loz felt slightly mollified. At least he was looking more like himself. "There's no electricity. We'll need more than these kerosene lamps. If we're gonna stay here for any length of time, we'll need a generator."

"I'll steal one tonight," Loz offered

"The Slayer will be after us."

He laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kadaj did his best."

They met each other's eyes in acceptance.

Loz knew Kadaj had fucked up any chance of cooperation with the witch, and along with it, any research into sending them back to Gaia. And he could tell it was rubbing Yazoo raw. Well, tough titties. That's all he had to say. Kadaj may be too wrapped up to see his brother's mini-rebellion but Loz was neither blind nor stupid. Yazoo wanted them to go back to Gaia, it was obvious as the nose on his face. Maybe now that the choice had been removed from the table, they'd get their brother back. _All _of him.

If Kadaj wanted to stay here in Sunnydale and become Sephiroth again - if he wanted to give everything, even his life, to Mother - then that's what they'd do. Some vague dream of reuniting in the Lifestream was for pussies anyway. Who knew if that would even work?

Yazoo interrupted his reverie. "Is he still at the lake?"

"The water tower."

Loz watched his brother's face. Yazoo made no expression at the news that Kadaj was still spreading Geostigma through the water supply. Yeah, there was hope Yazoo would come around.

"So what do we do now?" he asked. Yazoo was the brains; he was just the muscle. He was cool with that. But he had to get Yazoo thinking straight. And soon. "Fuck it, let's just grab the redhead and tie her up here for a bit." He fired up Dual Hound in punctuation to his words.

There. Not much of a plan but it would give Yazoo something to pick apart until he came up with something better.

"I think you're right."

Loz snapped Dual Hound off.

"Say again?"

"We'll go get Willow. We'll summon Mother. Tonight. We end this."

Loz narrowed his eyes. "What about your little boy toy?"

"He's…" Yazoo trailed off and waved his hand in obvious frustration before giving up. "Tonight."

Loz grinned and threw an arm around Yazoo's shoulder. "Brother, you're gonna give Kadaj a boner like you ain't ever seen."

He would never totally understand all that went on in Yazoo's head, but he took capitulation at face value. For now, at least, he'd leave things in Yazoo's capable hands. He'd go steal a generator instead. At least that would be simple and direct. He cracked his knuckles and walked off humming.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's notes: Here's the final chapter. Thanks to everyone who took the time to check out a somewhat unusual crossover. I appreciated the comments (and the heads-up on some typos. Whoops!) :)

And now we try to put the pieces back together:

---

Willow sat on the floor of her room with her back against the bed and feet flopped out in front of her. She twiddled a hair-band in her fingers as Xander practiced his rusty braiding skills. It had been ages since they had spent an evening in front of a small TV, with nothing stretching ahead of them but a night of girl-talk (_people_-talk, Willow quickly amended in her head), and she felt a comfortable warmth in her stomach. Her friendship with Xander had been feeling a bit stretched at the seams lately. At least now she knew why. The world was slowly getting back on track.

Willow looked in the hand-held mirror with approval. "You're getting better. Next time, we'll learn the French braid."

Xander let the braid flop on her back. "Remind me again why you locked me in your room?"

Willow responded pragmatically. "Because you were freaking out over spending smoochy time with a certain silver-haired guy we know. So consider yourself officially shanghaied until you give in and talk to me about it."

"Oh yeah. That."

"You don't want to talk. I get it. We can just watch another Disney movie." She flicked on the TV and started scrounging through the DVD pile.

"For the love of puppies, woman. No more singing mermaids. I'll talk, I'll talk."

She set the DVD down with a triumphant grin, only to have her grin fall seconds later as the TV segued to a breaking news report. A heavily made-up reporter was relaying the latest news with a gleam for ratings in her eye. "—people found dead in Sunnydale. The bodies appeared to have been sliced with a large blade. Reports are trickling in about a young teen with silver hair leaving the scene…"

The two stared in shock as a passable likeness of Kadaj flashed up on the screen.

"I don't think we'll be having that talk, " Xander muttered dumbstruck.

"I think we need that talk more than ever," Willow said wide-eyed. She hugged her knees in her arms. "Yazoo's brother. The guy you…. The guy I…."

Xander stared at the screen not saying a word, which was unusual enough to cause Willow to grow concerned. "Xander, stay with me. Hold it together."

She put a hand on his shoulder but could feel his body tense up at her touch. Dropping her hand, she backed away to give him space. She chewed on her lip. She felt like she was in over her head and she wasn't sure what to do.

Buffy was going to kill the brothers. That was a given. And Kadaj deserved it, there was no doubt in her mind.

"I never liked that guy," she said out loud. "But Yazoo…" She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about him. But there was no denying her feelings had softened since their first meeting.

Xander finally tore his eyes from the news report. They were steely.

"Buffy can't kill Yazoo if I kill him first."

She shrank back from the venom in his voice. She could understand the feeling. She could. They'd spent their lives battling evil and now it was right in front of them, by their - well, not her side, but Xander's, at least. But she also remembered Yazoo standing in this very room, saying, " I want to save him from being hurt."

She trod carefully. "I don't think Yazoo was involved. They said a sword, right?"

Xander slammed his hand down on the desk. She flinched at the barely restrained rage in his movements. His laugh verged on hysteria. "Not involved? Not involved? Those guys even admitted it. They're three of one. From the same person. Whatever the hell that means. If Kadaj did this, Yazoo was involved."

Willow's mind went into overdrive, as it was wont to do in times of crisis. She'd been working through the idea of a Lifestream in her head – a flow of energy around the planet where people went when they died. While it had its share of the creep factor, it also seemed more tangible - closer at hand - than their own version of Heaven. It could be construed as comforting… in Opposite World, she guessed.

The rest got a little murkier. These three were from the Lifestream, the spirit of one guy, brought back as three schisms of his personality. But just because they came from the same place, that didn't mean they _stayed _that way. She tried to think of the right way to approach it with Xander. She went for bluntness.

"Yazoo came here last night."

Xander's head shot up in alarm. "Did he hurt you? I'll kill him if he laid a finger on you."

"No," she soothed. "He came because he said they had to go back. To their own planet. And because… because he was worried about you."

Xander snorted. "That's a laugh. This is how he shows he cares? Like a cat bringing home a dead bird for its owner?" He paused. "And I think I just totally freaked myself out there."

"You're missing my point."

"Point?" He bit the word out, but she knew the anger wasn't directed at her.

"Xander, he came here alone. The time he spent with you, doing," she coughed delicately, "_you know_ - he was alone. His brothers weren't there. They may have started as 'three of one' but they grew. They all had their own experiences. They each changed in their own ways."

"Will, don't tell me you're sticking up for Yazoo." Conflicting feelings raced across his face and fought for dominance: relief, anger, betrayal… hope…

"Well, I don't know him that well… Probably nobody really understands them. Except for Kadaj," she added under her breath. "He's pretty easy to understand. Craaazy-sauce," she sing-songed. She snapped back to the point. "But Yazoo… I don't think he was part of it. Whatever that was," she trailed off dejectedly as she waved at the screen.

Xander physically deflated, his shoulders sagging. "It doesn't matter. The line's been crossed. A line with big signs all along it saying 'If you cross this, you die.'" He sank down on to the bed. "There's no going back."

Willow couldn't disagree. But at least the anger was gone from Xander's body and he no longer looked like he would run off to confront Yazoo, or force a confrontation that would get him killed. Instead, he looked… hopeless. In the 'not getting yourself killed' sense, hopelessness was better. Though it was admittedly the lesser of two evils.

She perched lightly next to Xander on the bed and folded her hands in her lap. "What do we do now?"

Xander met her eyes briefly before lying back on the bed and turning on his side, a pillow hugged between his arms. "What can we do?" With those words, he closed in on himself and slipped from Willow's orbit, to a darker place where she couldn't follow.

---

From the depths of his pillow, Xander heard Willow patter out of the room. He tuned it out. There weren't even old country songs in his head this time, one too many disasters having snapped him past the point of comfort. There was only a spiraling darkness that threatened to drag him under.

But he couldn't tune it out when Willow barged back in the room with a package in her hand. She threw the package into a duffel bag and grabbed supplies from a rack labeled 'Spices'. There was supposedly some chaos to the order, but none that Xander could see.

She shouldered the bag with resolve and grabbed Xander's hand. "Let's go."

"Go. Go where?"

Xander was being hustled out the French doors onto the balcony and he climbed down the tree under worry of being pushed in Willow's stampede.

She followed behind, sliding down the tree with a practiced ease that belied her innocent demeanor. "I'm not sure I can do it. It's a little soon, but it's worth trying. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't at least try. Since it's sort of my fault for bringing them here, I can at least try to fix it." She finally paused for breath. "You know?"

"Um, Will? No, I don't know. What are you talking about?"

Willow abruptly stopped walking and faced Xander. "I can send them back."

"But you were still working on the ingredi—"

"My bat heart came today." She patted at the duffel bag. "And I can substitute oregano for the jingo weed. It's not ideal, but most of the time it's in there for show anyway. Witches get all hoity toity and think that they look 'cooler'," she airquoted, "if they have some jingo. " She snorted. "Just a bunch of wannabes."

She finally wound down. "Um, I haven't had any time to practice and, with the substitution, I'm not sure it will work, but it has to be worth a shot." She paused. "If you want to."

Xander's brain was still stuck back under the pillow and things were moving too fast. He finally dragged his hand through his hair. "But they're just going to die if they go back to their time."

Willow's head snapped up.

"What?" Xander said. "Did you think of something?"

She didn't answer, simply threw her hand up with a command. "Wait here. You think things over. I'll be right back."

She shimmied back up the tree and left Xander with a question that had no answer. Let Buffy kill them in this world, or let Cloud kill them in the other. Both options sucked. He craved the pillow again.

Willow jumped back down next to him, and she was moving slower now. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Xander, I know this is a hard decision. But Yazoo wanted to go back. He didn't want to see you hurt. And I don't think he wants you to have to live with the idea that one of your good friends killed your, um…" she stumbled around for a word.

"Lover?" Xander supplied. "Unconventional boyfriend?" He grew serious. "How about just someone I really care about." He had new insight into the pain that was Buffy last year.

Willow didn't say anything, just nodded.

Xander felt the dam break in his chest. "I don't want to see him die, Will. I don't want it to be so final." He squeezed his eyes shut a second before opening them back up to meet Willow's concerned gaze. "Send him back. Leave me the fantasy that they can wiggle out of it." Willow's hand tightened around his in commiseration. "Yazoo knows what's coming this time. He can do it, right?"

The last part came out as a plea, but Willow understood.

"Right," she nodded. "Of course they can do it."

Xander straightened up. "Then let's go."

They headed out with renewed determination.

---

Buffy strode into her room, grabbed her duffel bag, and threw her supplies in. She'd missed the brothers at the Mansion and it only fueled her outrage. She should have done this weeks ago. She'd been too lax. And now people were dead. She tossed a vicious knife on the top of the pile.

It ended now.

---

Loz put the finishing touches on Dual Hound, snapping the electrical device back onto his arm with a decisive click. Kadaj polished Souba, rubbing the sword with a fine cloth until the blade gleamed in the weak light powered by the generator. Yazoo oiled up Velvet Nightmare, thumbing the cylinder slowly and methodically before seating it back into place.

They were ready.

---

Willow and Xander struggled through the brambles, stopping briefly when the duffel bag caught in a bush.

"Come on, Willow, hurry." Xander tried to keep the strain out of his voice but, now that he'd finally made the decision, his stomach was in knots. They couldn't get there fast enough.

Willow simply nodded in understanding, gave a final tug, and they made their way to the outside of the crypt.

It was now or never.

---

Yazoo whipped out his gun and had it aimed at the door before Xander even made it over the sill. His hands flew automatically into the air.

"Woah, it's just us - me and Willow, Willow and me is us." He waved a finger between the two of them to illustrate the 'us'ness. Yazoo peered around for the rest of the gang that he knew must be close behind. He saw only Willow.

She peeked nervously out from behind Xander's shoulder. "There's no one else," she offered.

Yazoo kept the gun up. He nodded to Loz, who slipped wordlessly out the door to check the perimeter. Yazoo didn't drop the gun up until he returned with his assessment.

"I didn't see anyone. It's clean."

Kadaj had been watching the show from his perch on top of the crypt. He hopped to the floor and wandered lazily in front of Willow, peering out at her with interest from behind his bangs. "You two came alone? Two little humans without your Slayer? How… brave."

She started to shrink back but then straightened. "We came to help." After getting that much out, she deflated and nudged Xander. "You tell them."

Xander jerked, then came to attention. "Oh. Yes. Help."

Kadaj was finding the whole conversation extremely funny. "But you don't even know what we want. It was nice of you to come and save us the trouble though."

She frowned at Xander and he shook his head, as confused as she was.

Yazoo raised an eyebrow, still unsure what they were doing here. He wished he could feel Xander with the same surety he could feel his brothers. Instead he had to rely on body language and facial expression – all the little bits and pieces of Xander he'd picked up over their time together. He felt like a blind man, but he also had the strange underlying feeling that Xander was being straight.

"Kadaj, let me talk with them."

His brother's narrowed his eyes but Yazoo met his stare, steel clashing against steel.

"Sure," Kadaj relented, a little too easily. "We'll just check out your little love nest downstairs that you don't want us contaminating." He rammed a foot against the lock and it fell into pieces. It was his challenge to Yazoo for daring to ask them to leave. He wasn't keeping areas walled off from him anymore. "I'll leave you so you can say goodbye to your toy." He jerked his head. "Let's go, Loz."

They grabbed a light and jumped down the hatch.

Buffy slipped out the window and down the tree – something she hadn't done in ages. She didn't want to accidentally run into her mother. She wasn't up for any questioning and couldn't toss out an airy "Patrolling," should she ask. This wouldn't be an average night and the last thing she wanted was for her mother to worry.

Buffy was worried enough for both of them. She'd fought three on one before but these guys were a step up from the local baddies. And they had weapons that any of the local demons would drool over.

On that note, she took a detour past the library to pick out the longest, sharpest, heaviest blade in the arsenal. Weighing it in her hand, she nodded appreciatively. It would do. The weapon was enough. She was enough. It didn't matter that there were three of them. The brothers were going to pay for messing with her town, and they would pay with their lives.

Willow got straight to the point. "We can send you back."

Yazoo's gaze shot quickly to Xander - his words came slowly, in obvious disbelief. "You're okay with that?"

He shrugged. "What other choice is there?"

"You know what my brother did." It was a statement, not a question.

"We know."

The silence drew out. Xander looked like he was ready to blurt out questions, to demand answers, to ask for things Yazoo couldn't give. Instead, he opened his mouth, shut it, then seemingly grew a few years in maturity all in the space of a few seconds. "We know," he finally repeated with finality.

"Going back to your own world, it's…" Xander's grew agitated at the obvious outcome but then his shoulders sank with resigned acceptance. "But Buffy won't give up."

Yazoo understood. He wouldn't either, in her place.

They were being given a choice. It was more than he expected, or even deserved. He gave a quick nod of appreciation to Xander.

"Thank you."

"Well, we haven't done anything yet," Xander joked, but it fell flat under the heavy tension of the air.

"Willow," Yazoo asked, "could you leave us alone for a minute?"

She bit at her lip and looked at her watch. "We don't have much time."

"I know."

"Please, Will." Xander's expression almost broke her heart.

She softened. "Of course. I'll be outside." She waved to the crypt door. "It's not much but it will give you some privacy. But if you hear me yell 'vampire', you better let me in pronto, so no hanky panky business, Mister."

Yazoo almost smiled in the face of her finger waggle. "No hanky-panky," he agreed.

She slipped out the door to leave Yazoo in the weirdest situation he could remember: saying goodbye to someone. It had never happened before. He'd never let anyone in his short life get close enough to say goodbye to.

And it would be a short life, if they were going back to Gaia. But, at the same time, the Lifestream called to him and, with it, the knowledge he'd always be with his brothers no matter what.

He'd never had a problem with living fast before - play hard or go home - but looking at Xander, an unplanned hiccup in his carefree world, he felt the pangs of the shortness of their existence.

He said nothing, just cupped his hand against Xander's cheek and leaned in for a kiss.

Xander stopped him. "Wait. I've got to say this now or I'll always regret it." He cleared his throat and Yazoo saw him metaphorically leap. "It was definitely not a normal, um, relationship, and your brother is beyond certifiable." Yazoo frowned as Xander continued. "Buffy still doesn't know how far things went with us, and would probably kill me if Willow ever ratted me out." The list was growing long and Yazoo wasn't sure what to do about the tightening in his chest.

"But," Xander continued with emphasis, "I wouldn't change a thing. I learned from you - more than just fighting, and more than just sex, I learned about loyalty, doing absolutely anything for those you cared about, and um, patience. Something I'm not always the best at," he admitted.

He finally wound down. "And that's it, I guess. I'm no Shakespeare so that's the best I can do." He looked hesitant after the boldness of the speech and Yazoo wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

Words were useless - shallow vacuous things that could never convey his true feelings - so he simply leaned back in for a kiss. He put everything he couldn't say into the touch of his lips and the accompanying stroke of his hand. He could feel time slipping by, the tick-tick growing louder, and it spurred him on. He pushed in harder, backing Xander up against the wall. Xander stiffened at his urgency but soon softened underneath him and answered with his own desperation. His hands slid up to tangle in Yazoo's hair. It was their last kiss and they both knew it. It was both everything and never enough.

Yazoo ended the kiss with reluctance, dropping his head briefly in the curve of Xander's neck. He finally stepped back. "Willow," he called out through the door as he kept his gaze on Xander. "It's time."

Xander allowed himself a few seconds to lean back against the wall. After a deep breath, he knew he couldn't put things off any longer. He exited the crypt… only to find Buffy barreling towards him, with Willow scurrying to intercept.

"Xander," Buffy said with a frown. "You shouldn't be hanging around out here."

"I was, just, uh…"

Willow popped up from behind. "We were just, uh, performing a quick séance to see if Xander's grandma knew where a can of pennies was buried." Xander gaped at Willow. "I know it's silly but we thought some ambience, you know, a crypt and candles would help." She looked frantically towards Xander.

He picked up the handoff a little raggedly but nodded with a desperate smile. "Yeah, that's it. That's what we were doing. Because the pennies, you know."

Buffy frowned again. "This isn't the time for parlor games, Will. The brothers are somewhere out here. And they're dangerous." Her eyes hardened with rage. "They killed. In my town."

She dragged her hand through her hair. "My god, who knows what they'd do to you and Xander if they ran across you. If they laid one hand on you…"

"We're fine, really," Willow chimed in quickly.

Xander nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, and we were just finishing up."

Buffy looked doubtful but relaxed. "You should go. I don't want you guys anywhere near here. I don't want you to get hurt—"

Yazoo sauntered out of the crypt to stand defiantly by Xander. He narrowed his eyes in challenge.

Buffy shouted, "Xander, watch out!" She raised her sword in preparation of an attack. Xander didn't stop to think, he just reacted. He leapt in front of Yazoo with his arms out in front.

She stopped her swing just in time and the scene froze. She shook her head back and forth in disbelief, her eyes indicating a confusion and betrayal so deep it hurt. "Xander?"

Yazoo wrapped his arm around Xander from behind, his hold tight, his grip possessive. "I would never hurt him."

Xander wanted to hide under a big rock. Of all the times for Yazoo to proclaim his feelings, this wasn't it. But the possessive gesture warmed him in a little part of himself he couldn't deny. Xander could hear Willow muttering softly to the side but he tuned it back out when Buffy's stare drowned out everything else.

Xander shrugged. "It's a thing. We're a thing." Yazoo tightened his arms around him. "I know I should have told you but it never seemed to come up: 'Hey Buffy, I'm in love with a demon. Oh, and I'm gay.' Not the kind of thing you drop in casual conversation." He tried to keep his tone neutral but it was coming out almost pleading.

"Oh, Xander," Buffy's sword tip dropped. "You thought I'd be surprised you were gay?"

He smiled wanly, then frowned. "Hey wait…"

"But him?" Buffy raised her sword back up.

Xander spread his arms, his voice low. "He didn't do it. His brother—"

"His brother did it." Buffy interrupted. "And they're both here together now, I'd stake my life on that, still as close as ever." Her rage was growing and her voice strained with the effort. "His brother killed three people, Xander. And I'll bet he knew all about it."

This wasn't the time to debate about different worlds and spells gone awry and different experiences and what went wrong first, and Xander started to panic. He picked up the trailing lilts and intonations of Willow's voice in the background. "But we have a pla—"

The bang of a trap door resounded in the crypt and Kadaj strolled out into the twilight. His eyes sparked with excitement when he spied Buffy.

"Are you keeping all the fun out here for yourself, brother? Shame."

He reached for Souba on his back, brandishing the sword out with a deft pull and an excited smile… only to be met by Yazoo.

"Brother, no."

Kadaj bristled with righteous indignation that quickly smoothed out into a deceptive mask.

"You're going to stop me from killing the girl?" he asked in a devastatingly soft voice.

Loz wandered out the door and stood off on the sidelines to watch. He glanced briefly at Willow then turned back to the scene. He waited.

The two brothers stared at each other in deadly silence. "You know she wants to kill us, Yazoo. And you're just going to stand there? Has your time here made you soft?"

With Xander in front of Buffy, and Yazoo in front of Kadaj, the whole scene was so bizarre, Xander didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What a fucked up night. He really wanted one of Willow's time spells to stop everything, even for a moment, to give him time to think.

Buffy switched her weight from leg to leg in frustration. He could tell when the leash broke. She shoved Xander aside, pushing him to the ground in her haste.

"I'm sorry, Xander, but you'll thank me later." Her eyes searched out Kadaj. "You're a monster. And yes, I want to kill you. I should have done it the first night I met you."

She closed the distance between them. Kadaj pushed aside his brother to wield Souba in defiance. Swords met in the middle with a clang that echoed through the cemetery and made Xander flinch.

Willow's voice rose in volume, in weird harmony to the rhythm of the sword fight, as she neared the end of her incantations. An electrical charge crackled around her and sent her red hair flying about her face. The various members of the tableau slowly looked her way, even Buffy and Kadaj taking a momentary truce to stare at the vision of Willow surrounded by a magic that made the air suffocating to breathe.

She sprinkled one last round of dust and clapped once, loud, sending smoke out into the air.

The air stretched tight then snapped back to fill in the space where the brothers used to stand.

Buffy and Xander stared at the empty space, then each other. It wasn't until Willow slumped to the ground with a small mewl of pain that they broke free from their paralysis. Buffy's sword dropped to the ground and everything else was forgotten.

Except for Xander, whose eyes kept returning to an empty patch of grass.

---

Xander and Buffy spent the next ten minutes in a strained truce as they sneaked Willow back into her room and situated her in her bed.

Willow finally shook off her hovering attendants. "Guys, I'll be okay. I … I just need to rest a bit."

Buffy sat near the end of the bed with her hand resting on Willow's ankle under the covers. "You scared me to death, Willow. Don't do that again."

I'm sorry, Buffy, I really am. There was just so much going on that you weren't aware of and we had the chance to send them back—"

Buffy stood up in frustration. "That's exactly why I'm so upset. I had no clue what was going on. You guys were keeping all this," she waved her hand at Xander, "away from me."

"Like you did with Angel?" Xander said softly.

"Stop! Don't even go there." Buffy went stock-still and her back ramrod straight. "It's different and you know it."

Willow spoke softly from the bed. "Yes, it was different. It wasn't Yazoo's alter ego that did those things. It wasn't Yazoo at all." She burrowed down in the bed at Buffy's glare. "I'm not saying what we did was right," she hastily clarified, "and you have every right to be mad." Her voice lowered. "There's not enough cookies in the world to make up for this. But," her voice strengthened, "we did what we felt we had to."

Buffy finally stopped pacing, though her shoulders remained stiff. "I just need some time," she finally offered. She leaned in with a hug for Willow. "You rest up. Slayer's orders." She turned towards Xander and finally met his eyes. She offered up a small peace offering, still a bit begrudging but a step. "We can talk later." She exited the French doors and jumped down to the lawn below.

Xander crawled on top of the covers next to Willow. "Do you think she'll ever understand?"

"I don't know. But we've done some pretty awful things to each other before and we always seem to come back stronger than ever." Her surety warmed Xander and gave him hope.

He was feeling hopeful enough to start wondering. "Do you think Yazoo… do you think they made it out alive?"

Willow pushed herself up against the headboard. "Xander, I have to tell you something. Remember awhile ago, when I told you I slowed time in the gym?" She rushed on, in a hurry to get it all out in the open. "I modified the return spell a bit. Or, at least, I tried. It was all last minute and everything was so crazy, and I know it was a risky move and, to be honest, I wasn't even sure it would wor—"

Xander held up a hand. "Willow, spit it out."

"I combined the translocation spell with a transchronoreversal spell."

"A transchrono what now?"

"It's a spell to send people back in time." She brightened. "And I think it worked. It's hard to explain but you can feel when a spell is completed correctly, and I think I sent them back to Gaia _and _back in time."

Xander's eyes widened.

"It wasn't very far back in time," Willow continued, "I'm not that practiced yet… but maybe it was enough?"

All Xander could do was stare.

She fidgeted. "I know we hadn't discussed it. But there was no time, and I hope you're not ma—"

He broke out into a grin. "Willow, you are a genius!"

He hugged her hard, smothering her in a Hawaiian print shirt of purple and green. She pushed at him half-heartedly. "Xander! I need to breathe." But she said it with a smile.

Xander snuggled back down next to her in the bed and took her hand in his. Bouncing it up and down lightly, he said, "It's a chance, isn't it? It's the most we could do."

She nodded. "It's up to them what they do with it."

Xander snuggled into the pillow, finally relaxing for the first time that day.

He craned his head towards Willow hesitantly. "We did do the right thing, right?"

"Do you regret it?"

"Not a bit."

Willow leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and plopped back next to him.

"Then, yes, we did the right thing."

He soon fell asleep on Willow's shoulder with dreams of silver hair and bright green eyes and a second chance at life.

---

Epilogue:

Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj appeared in the middle of the road to find a truck barreling towards them at full speed. The driver laid on the horn as Loz pushed the two out of the way; he bounded over the top of the truck to hit the pavement behind it.

The Lifestream. Power. And they were alive. He hooted at the sky.

Yazoo dusted off his leathers and patted his body.

Kadaj just blinked. "What the hell?"

Loz may not have known all the details but he knew more than he let on. He liked to think of it as part of his charm. Regardless, he'd been prepared for it. Kadaj hadn't.

And Kadaj was pissed.

As he ramped up into a full-blown monologue of epic proportions railing against time, space, and stolen fights, Loz scoured the surrounding area to get his bearings. He finally figured out they were 10 miles out of town. 10 miles, and they didn't have their bikes. The desert was hot, the vegetation was non-existent, and Kadaj was in rare form as he got a heavily edited story from Yazoo. Loz sighed. It was going to be a long walk back.

But as he leapt to the top of a nearby rock formation, he felt the fluidity of his movements as he reconnected with the Lifestream. Yazoo was looking healthier too. Occasionally, he would cast brief looks up at the sky, as if looking for something. Loz expected it would become a familiar tic.

He flipped back down to the road. But they were home. And they were alive. It was enough. He started to walk, letting the brothers battle it out behind them. Even the sound of their bickering sounded like music to his ears. He broke out in a grin and blew a silent kiss to Willow as life slid back into normal around him.

The End


End file.
